‘Shut Up, My Spot Is On’
Los Angeles — Who was the least valuable player in last year’s Super Bowl? Viewers might say it was the tousle-haired young boy in the Nationwide Insurance spot, talking about all the cool things he missed because he was killed in a household accident. Headline writers dubbed it the “Dead Kid” commercial. Social media buzzed with outrage. The company was forced to issue a statement explaining it didn’t mean to upset anyone....
Consumer Confidential: TiVo Users: Your TV Watching Is Being Watched
If you’re a TiVo user, your digital video recorder may be ratting you out to advertisers. In the latest example of consumer privacy being threatened by Big Data, TiVo’s number-crunching subsidiary earlier this month announced a partnership with media heavyweight Viacom that helps advertisers target TV viewers with specific commercials. Think of it like this: A car company wants to reach men in their 20s. Viacom knows that younger guys...
Everyone Loses With Increase in Ad-Blocking Use
Ad blockers are growing in popularity, and that could be a big problem for any business that relies on online advertising to pay the bills. A study published last week by Adobe and the software company PageFair revealed that 45 million active users in the United States use ad-blocking software — an increase of 48 percent in one year as of June. That’s about 15 percent of U.S. Internet users. In other countries, such as Poland, the...
Advertisers Attracted to Whisper App
Los Angeles — The anonymous thought-sharing app Whisper has hired a president and signed its 10th advertiser as it tests how to turn the attention of its 10 million monthly users into revenue. The Los Angeles startup had seemed on a torrid pace of growth, raising $36 million in venture capital a year ago on top of about $25 million in earlier fundraising. People visit Whisper to post public messages that aren’t attached to their name....
