Monthly Archives: May 2010

BP Oil Spill: Profits Over Planet

While BP’s spill cleanup costs have eclipsed $1 billion and could eventually cost over $10 billion, can you really put a price on the damage to the environment? If it is true that BP cut corners and that they put on a fraudulent show for the President Obama’s Gulf visit (as reported by CNN’s Anderson Cooper), does BP really deserve to still be worth $130 billion? Consumers … this is your opportunity to vote with your wallet. Many of you are angered and would love to change BP’s slogan of Beyond Petroleum to Bankruptcy Protection. The backlash has spread to Facebook with over 200,000 fans of Boycott BP. Continue reading →

Posted in Social Impact by David Capece | Monday, May 31st, 2010 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Facebook Simplifies Privacy — But Can They Do More?

Following weeks of public controversy, backlash, and legal woes, Facebook has just announced its plan to once again revamp privacy controls – this time, making it a much simpler process. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Tara Lane | Friday, May 28th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple Surpasses Microsoft as No. 1 in Tech, Wednesday

Wednesday marked the changing of the guard in tech: “Wall Street has called the end of an era and the beginning of the next one,” writes the NY Times. “The most important technology product no longer sits on your desk but rather fits in your hand.” Apple… Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by Ethan Lyon | Thursday, May 27th, 2010 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nokia and Yahoo! Partner to Increase Brand Recognition

Nokia and Yahoo just announced a unique partnership that will create cross-platform opportunities for both companies. Starting this summer, Yahoo will become the global provider of Nokia’s Ovi e-mail and messaging service, available on all Nokia devices. In turn, Nokia will power Yahoo’s popular maps service both online and on all of the phone supplier’s mobile devices. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Tara Lane | Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dell Enters the Tablet Market With “Streak”

Dell announced Tuesday it will enter the tablet market this summer with its new Streak device. The Streak tablet is much smaller than its iPad counterpart, though larger than your typical smartphone. Its functionality and user experience uniquely positions it among its peers — and might attract new consumers to the tablet market… Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

FTC OKs Google AdMob Acquisition: Look Out Apple

Google could rest easy this past weekend, as the FTC approved its $750 million acquisition of mobile ad service, AdMob, on Friday. The Federal Trade Commission ruling follows a six-month antitrust investigation that could have sidelined Google in the $600… Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 24th, 2010 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Google’s Chrome Store Brings Apps to the Web

At Google’s I/O developer conference this week, the search giant unveiled a number of exciting products and programs that should debut in the coming months, including a formal announcement of Google TV and the new WebM video platform. Of these … Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Tara Lane | Friday, May 21st, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sency Betting on Real-Time Local Search

With the buzz around Four Square, Sency has the opportunity to garner attention. Their next milestone is to reach 1 million unique users. As they attract more and more users, Sency will be challenged to evolve from “oh, that’s cool” to “wow, I plan to check back frequently.” Right now, real-time location based search of community chatter is a novelty: interesting, but not vital. There is potential for it to catch on … Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by David Capece | Thursday, May 20th, 2010 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

MySpace Moves to Simplify Privacy

Since Facebook’s announcement of Connected Profiles feature and Open Graph initiative, the social network has faced criticism and raised concern over privacy on the Web. MySpace this week announced that it will roll out simplified privacy settings in the coming weeks. Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by Tara Lane | Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Understanding Hyperlocal Marketing [Interview]

Shields Bialasik is the creator and founder of LocalsGuide, a hyperlocal web2print social network. Each month the activity of the online social network generates a monthly print newspaper which is then distributed to the community of Ashland… Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by Ethan Lyon | Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Tomorrow’s Luxury: A Look at Affluent Gen Yers

Last Friday, I attended the annual L2 Generation Next conference in NYC. It showcased a diverse, enthusiastic mashup of speakers to discuss the state of luxury — from a 15-year-old fashion blogger to seasoned branding professionals. Speakers explored subjects from health to making love not porn to gaming and fashion. Among the line-up, Sterling Lanier, President of the market research… Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 17th, 2010 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Microsoft Competes with Google in the Cloud

Microsoft had the Web in a flurry this week with the long-awaited announcement of its Office 2010 Productivity Suite. Available June 15, the updated programs – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook – boast more than 100 upgrades from the 2007 version. Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by Tara Lane | Friday, May 14th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Should Advertisers Care About QR Codes?

Bar codes were dreamed-up in 1948 as a means to track grocery items and until recently, were the domain of commercial enterprise. That’s changing with Quick Response codes. Instead of thousand-dollar commercial-grade bar code scanners, QR codes… Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Friday, May 14th, 2010 | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Users “Like” Mobile Advertising, Reports JiWire

To marketers and developers delight, a new report confirms mobile advertising’s effectiveness to reach and engage users. The new study, from mobile audience media company JiWire, reveals mobile users want advertising to not only engage with but subsidize… Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Thursday, May 13th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Google, Verizon Tablet to Rival Apple’s iPad

Verizon announced Tuesday that it’s working with Google to develop a tablet device to directly compete with Apple’s runaway success, the iPad. Verizon’s tablet will run on Google’s Android operating system and likely reach the market later this year… Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Twitter to Launch New Features for Brands

Though Twitter is an individual-dominated social network, the micro-blogging site hosts a number of corporate accounts as well. Brands utilizing Twitter often use the site as a customer service platform, or as a way to build relationships with their customers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Tara Lane | Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Facebook Should Acquire Location-Based SN, FourSquare

The rumor mill has been churning ever since Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, flew to New York to visit Foursquare CEO Dennis Crow, reports TechCrunch. The meeting hints at a potential acquisition of FourSquare by Facebook. As smartphone… Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

10 Questions You Should Ask Before Launching a Newsletter

Developing a newsletter, is a valuable way to generate site referrals and deepen customer relationships. Before launching your newsletter, we’ve developed a list of questions to help you begin thinking about how you will create your newsletter… Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 10th, 2010 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Entrepreneur’s Quiz: Are you ready to fund your startup business?

Many entrepreneurs face this question. While there are a handful of celebrity entrepreneurs that have access to capital to launch their company (either through wealthy contacts or personal wealth), most startups struggle to obtain funding. For those… Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Facebook Privacy Breech – Trouble for the Future?

Facebook endured another privacy debacle this week when a security flaw was found, allowing friends to view each other’s private information, including chats and messages. Though the security breech lasted only a few hours, many users are upset that their privacy had been compromised for the second time in less than a month. Continue reading →

Posted in Social Impact by Tara Lane | Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment