A New Odd Couple: Google, P&G Swap Workers to Spur Innovation†

Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2008 — At Procter & Gamble Co., the corporate culture is so rigid, employees jokingly call themselves "Proctoids." In contrast, Google Inc. staffers are urged to wander the halls on company-provided scooters and brainstorm on public whiteboards.

Now, this odd couple thinks they have something to gain from one another — so they've started swapping employees. So far, about two-dozen staffers from the two companies have spent weeks dipping into each other's staff training programs and sitting in on meetings where business plans get hammered out. The initiative has drawn little notice. Previously, neither company had granted this kind of access to outsiders.

Google, Campbell Soup, J&J Tops in CSR

Marketing Charts, November 10, 2008 — Google, Campbell Soup, and Johnson & Johnson top the list of American companies that the US public sees as most socially responsible, according to the 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Index (CSRI), from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute.

MGM to Post Full Films on YouTube

New York Times, November 10, 2008 — YouTube is by far the world’s biggest stage for online video. But in some ways Hulu is stealing the show. With critical plaudits and advertising dollars flowing to Hulu, the popular online hub for television shows and feature films, YouTube finds itself in the unanticipated position of playing catch-up.

Building a Better Twitter

BusinessWeek, November 7, 2008 — A host of rival sites allow users to share short messages like Twitter, but offer unique features such as picture-sharing or private groups

Survey: Wal-Mart Among Best 'Value' Brands†

YouGovPolimetrix places AIG at bottom of insurance heap

Adweek, November 4, 2008 — A recent survey by YouGovPolimetrix revealed that the slumping economy is having a significant impact on how consumers perceive brand value. Budget brands like Wal-Mart and Old Navy were ranked highest by consumers, while more upscale brands and financial services firms ranked lowest, reflecting a loss of consumer confidence.

Google, MediaVest Tap Biometrics for InVideo Ads Play

NeuroFocus specializes in measuring individuals’ brain response—by literally placing sensors on their heads—as well as other factors like pupil dilation and skin response

Mediaweek, October 23, 2008 — Google is so confident that its InVideo Ads product—those semi-transparent/animated overlay ads it launched on YouTube last year—are game changers that the company is turning to brain wave researchers to prove their effectiveness.

The search giant--in conjunction with MediaVest--has partnered with NeuroFocus, a researcher that specializes in biometrics, to gauge both how users respond to InVideo ads and how well those ads complement traditional banner ads. NeuroFocus specializes in measuring individuals’ brain response—by literally placing sensors on their heads—as well as other factors like pupil dilation and skin response.

Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers†

Brandweek, October 21, 2008 — These days, countless users are wishing their social networking sites would simply pay attention to their online travels so they could serve up an ad for something they would—gasp—actually want to buy. After all, that's the whole idea behind behavioral targeting, isn't it? The footprints left behind a user's daily wanderings through the Web (or, in the case of social networks, personal and lifestyle details) are analyzed to later match her up with ads for products or services she's likely to want. It sounds so promising—in theory at least—that behavioral targeting is what many consider the wave of the future.

Mainstream Blogging: Integral to Media Ecosystem

MarketingVox, October 8, 2008 — Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.

The report, which was published on Technorati's website over the course of a work week, covered five broad topic areas relating to the state of blogging: Who bloggers are, how they blog, blogging for profit and brands in the blogosphere.

Google Introduces a Cartoonlike Method for Talking in Chat Rooms

New York Times, July 9, 2008 — Google, known for its plain-Jane approach to Web design, has come up with something much wackier. On Tuesday the company introduced Lively, an online tool that allows people to embody a cartoonish online avatar and have text-based conversations with friends and other Internet users in virtual chat rooms. The rooms can be added to any blog or Web site.

Google to Offer a Tool To Measure Web Hits†

Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2008 — As soon as Tuesday, Google plans to unveil a new service that measures Internet use, according to advertising executives who have been briefed on it. The tool is intended to help advertisers identify the best places to buy online ads by telling them which Web sites their target audiences visit.

Google's approach, aimed at bolstering its ad-sales business, could pose a major threat to the Web measurement services that are available now, ad executives say. The two main players in the business — comScore and Nielsen Online — gather data on Internet use largely by tracking what panels of people do online or by conducting surveys, and their results can be inconsistent and incomplete. Google's new offering will be based mostly on data from Web servers,... continue reading