Australian online news and views

With so much trouble last week on the markets i am not to sure they could have picked or rather coincised with a worse time……

Article from Brand republic begins here =
by Hayley Pinkerfield Revolution UK 27-Jul-07, 11:00

LONDON - Moneysupermarket.com missed its target when it floated on the LSE yesterday, as its founders’ squabbling was blamed for the disappointing performance.

The company had hoped to be worth £1bn, but ended the first day valued at £783m. The internet price comparison site floated in London on the day of the biggest one-day percentage fall in four years.

Founders Simon Nixon and Duncan Cameron could not reach an agreement over when to float the business, delaying the process by several months. They finally made a deal last month with Cameron selling 90 per cent of his stake for £162m. The pair originally fell out in 2001.
Nixon, who has made £102m rather than the expected £200m, said:”I suppose we have been a little bit unlucky but the really positive thing for us is that we have been able to get our flotation going at all. It shows a lot of interest from investors.”

Moneysupermarket.com’s direct retail share offer had been described as the biggest since
lastminute.com floated during the dotcom boom of 2000.

Article from Brand republic ends here =

I am not so sure i would be complaining with that much money in my pocket….

102 million GBP. Its all in the game i suppose..

Just another interesting article from Brand Republic.

I don’t think i have actually used internet TV and don’t know who is using it here in OZ.

God we need a faster network here…… whilst they are forecasting so much advertising revenue elsewhere…..
Article =

LONDON - Advertising on internet television channels could be worth as much as $10bn (£4.9bn) by 2011, but the industry needs to develop revenue models and effectively engage with consumers according to new research.

A report published today by Understanding & Solutions claims that internet television is in the midst of a “gold rush”, as mainstream broadcasters try and stake their claim alongside internet-only media brands such as Joost, Vudu and Babelgum.

It also points to developments such as Apple TV, which is expected to sign deals to expand its range of content, and moves by Microsoft and Sony to offer online video services, as drivers of growth.

But the report points out that the challenge will be to harness the power of the medium, and develop revenue models beyond traditional interruptive ads, including sponsorship, subscription and other paid-for models.

Alison Casey, business director of content and services at Understanding & Solutions, said: “Internet TV will challenge the traditional broadcast industry through rights distribution, on-demand content versus linear broadcast and the generation of advertising revenues.”

Understanding & Solutions said that advertising spend on online television presently stands at $400m.

Article end =

I wonder how this is going to work its way out

May be a little off topic but i love this video

One for the bike riders, I especially like the compression with the “hammer”

the rupert effect:

News Digital Media to go carbon neutral
Sonja Koremans

News Digital Media has pledged to tread lighter on the planet announcing that it will become carbon neutral within months.

Joining a growing list of organisations taking leadership on climate control, News Limited’s digital arm will ramp up its green credentials as part of its parent company’s sustainability strategy, One Degree, which was launched today.

Richard Freudenstein, chief executive officer of News Digital Media, said as Australia’s fastest growing digital media publisher, the company needed to not only embrace the issue but walk the talk and set an example with its own sustainability policy.

“Climate change is now one of the most important political and social policy issues,” Freudenstein said.

“News Digital Media is committed to being a leader on the issue by informing, educating and enabling individuals to understand what they can do to help,” he said.

The digital publisher will measure its carbon footprint with an external audit and aimed to be carbon neutral in the next few months, Mr Freudenstein said.

However, an official date was yet to be set, he said.

“Becoming carbon neutral is only the beginning of our permanent commitment to change the way we use energy and reach our audience on this issue.

“We will achieve carbon neutrality and take a lead on the issue by cutting the overall energy use of the business, implementing energy efficient programs and offsetting otherwise unavoidable emissions from our business.”

News Digital Media’s announcement comes on the back of The Cannes International Advertising Festival last week where the sustainability issue was highlighted by climate change crusader Al Gore.

The former US Vice President, who headlined the event as guest speaker, pleaded with the world’s advertising industry to get involved in the climate change debate and create campaigns to raise awareness.

News Digital Media’s properties include NEWS.com.au, FOXSPORTS.com.au, truelocal.com.au, CareerOne.com.au, CARSguide.com.au, moshtix and taste.com.au.

Internet adspend continues to rocket
by Ben Bold Brand Republic 25-Jun-07, 08:30

LONDON - UK advertisers spent over £4.2bn in the first quarter of 2007, a year-on-year increase of 3%, according to research published by the Advertising Association.

However, the Quarterly Survey of Advertising Expenditure revealed that all media, apart from internet, outdoor and cinema, experienced a downturn. TV advertising continued to fall marginally from favour with advertisers, with expenditure down 0.8% to £962m
The hardest hit by far was the business magazine sector, with adspend plummeting 6.6% to £203m. This was followed by regional newspapers, which fell 3.8% to £705m; national papers, which experienced a decline of 1.8% to £492m; and consumer magazines, which fell 1.4% to £188m.
As a whole, press advertising fell 3.3% to £1.59bn, with advertisers spending 4.8% less on classified and 2.1% less on display.
Radio adspend was down 1.8% to £127m and direct mail fell 3.6% to £615m.
Unsurprisingly, internet advertising looked more positive, it bucked the overall trend and grew a massive 42% to £648m. Cinema advertising expenditure grew nearly 10% to £30m and outdoor by 7.7% to £237m.
The survey was researched and compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre. The figures exclude money spent on ad production, sponsorship and promotions, but include agency commissions

If you are thinking of adding or building a web 2.0 netwroking site or networking element to your site think about how it will add value, and what about the loyalty?
Will there be any

Survey finds social networking users have little loyalty
by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic 22-Jun-07, 12:00

LONDON - Many users of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook feel no obligation to restrict themselves to one site, according to a report.

Research by market research firm Parks Associates suggests nearly half of all social networkers regularly use more than one site and one in six use three or more. Nearly 40% of MySpace users also keep profiles on other social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook. Loyalty among the smaller social networking sites is reported to be even lower, with more than 50% of all users actively maintaining multiple profiles.

John Barrett, author of the ‘Web 2.0 & the New Net’ report, said this has resulted in an interlinked environment, tied together by links, widgets and the users themselves.
Barrett, said: “MySpace is a growing ecosystem and one that ironically now extends beyond MySpace itself.”
Barrett suggests that this environment creates fertile ground for new social networking sites and application providers.
He said: “A handful of users are all it takes to connect new services to the MySpace-centred environment. From there it can begin to spread virally, assuming of course that it offers something people want.”

Another article from bandT magazine’s e newsletter
By Sonja Koremans

Google advertisers will only be billed when products or services are purchased on their site under a new pay-per-action pricing trial being rolled out in Australia.

Hundreds of high-traffic businesses have been invited to road test the system from today as an alternative to the pay-per-click model.

A similar Google trial earlier this year proved popular in the United States, however the search giant has not committed to offering it permanently.

“We are rolling it out as a trial and it is likely to be successful here but at this stage we are uncertain whether it will be made available, we are optimistic though,” said Google spokesman Rob Shilkin.

Pay-per-action enables advertisers to pay only when a pre-defined action had been completed on their site such as when a user made a purchase, signed up for a newsletter or completed any other clearly defined action, Mr Shilkin said.

The system is designed to give advertisers and publishers more precision and control over their online budgets, he said.

Advertisers in the beta will see an alert in their AdWords account informing them that they can create pay-per-action campaigns. Those which have enabled AdWords conversion tracking and received more than 500 conversions from their CPC and CPM-based campaigns in the past 30 days will be automatically added to the trial.

Can this be for real…imagine…

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is reportedly in talks with Yahoo! about selling MySpace for $12.3bn (£6.2bn), in exchange for a 25% stake in the digital giant.

A deal would demonstrate a remarkably swift return on News Corp’s investment in MySpace, which it acquired for $580 million in summer 2005.

Yesterday Yahoo! was worth $37 billion. A quarter stake in an enlarged company would be worth $11.1 billion.

According to a report in News Corp-owned newspaper The Times, talks are at a tentative stage. News Corp has proposed that Yahoo! allows it to buy a 25% stake in the business in exchange for MySpace and a host of other digital assets, including games network IGN.

It is also unclear whether the talks will continue, following the resignation of Terry Semel, chief executive of Yahoo, yesterday. His role has been taken by cofounder Jerry Yang.
A 25% stake in Yahoo!, once enlarged by the addition of MySpace, would be worth $12.3bn. This is nearly a 24-fold increase on the $580m sum NewsCorp paid for MySpace and associated businesses in 2005. Yahoo is currently worth $37bn (£18.6bn).
Analysts have said that the deal, if it went ahead, would represent a significant step up for both businesses, with News Corp willing to trade the profitability of MySpace for greater exposure through Yahoo!’s global internet news offering.
According to The Times report, it is unclear whether Yahoo! was willing to consider the terms of the deal, but it is not a secret that the company has been very keen to acquire a major global social networking website after failing to buy Facebook for $1bn (£503m) last year.
Semel, who will stay on in a non-executive role, has experienced a 30% drop in Yahoo!’s stock price over the last 18 months. The company has also missed out on acquisition opportunities, such as the Facebook site and advertising services company DoubleClick, which was bought by archrival Google.

Man what a LEG!