With the different weblog-tools available nowadays, anyone can create a website in just a few days. But people already online exaggerate the technological knowledge of people who do not yet publish online. Now Weebly brings the DIY-possibilities to the next level. By simply clicking and dragging you can create your website. Add content and there you go! Although you are limited to a few design templates, this will do for people who are now still intimidated by the technical nitty-and-gritty of WordPress, ExpressionEngine, TextPattern, MovableType and alike.
According to Bill Gates, technology will advance so far for local advertising that when voice and data truly combine on mobile phones, the usage of venerable yellow page directories to find businesses will be near zero for anyone under 50.
That might be news to publishers who drop hefty books full of business listings at doorsteps all over the country each year. Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates, speaking at the company’s Strategic Advertising Summit, told attendees the age of the print directory has been numbered. Read more
Widgets are being turned into advertising delivery systems. Their nature – rich media applicatons that are easy to build, customize and add to a site – also make them an attractive way to add advertising to small sites. Google is now testing gadget ads, and we’ve written about services like boobox and AuctionAds (a sponsor) that easily ad affiliate advertising to a site via widgets. Last week eBay also launched “to go†widgets that let publishers embed ebay listings into websites, although for now there are no affiliate payments tied to those widgets.
source: TechCrunch. Read the whole article here.
It looks like the world is busy trying to get to a next evolutionary phase. It might also just be something that is related to the time of the year: spring. In The Netherlands (don’t know if this is the same elsewhere) spring is the time of year when you clean house. It comes to me that this now is going on in a much more diverse way: everything is 2.0 nowadays. Companies are re-defining themselves and call that “Companyname 2.0″. Trends die before to really become a trend and relive again as Trend 2.0. Advertising is dead! But now there is Advertising 2.0. Even PR is not what it was. Be ready for PR 2.0 (in Dutch, article on Marketingfacts)!
In fact 2.0 always stands for the “new” and “upcoming”. And always opposite 1.0: the way things are done today. Somehow I feel a bubble coming up (again…)
The article below by Duncan Riley mentions the launch of MediaSense Blog Measurement. While this is close to PR Newswire’s own eWatch, the reason for launching another ‘blogosphere watchdog’ is obvious: companies are chicken when it comes to really participating in the new ballgame. They often prefer to walk the same route as they did for years. In marketing the responsible people do not talk to their target audiences or clients any more. They hire a research agency to tell them what motivates ‘these kind of people’… The questions Riley asks at the end of his article are so true and relevant. Read more
Yesterday, while having a coffee and apple pie at Dudok, just below my working environment, I noticed a sign on the front side of the Dudok-building. On it a phone-number and a big number ’15′. Appears that this is a notice that is part of a large architecture exposition around the center of Rotterdam. By calling the number, choosing Dutch or English and typing in the building-specific number (15 for Dudok) you’ll hear a story about the building. Now this is what I call a sensible use of a mobile phone! No need for picking up a Walkman at a tourist office. Just use your cellphone. Everyone carries one. Later I learned that I could also download MP3-files for all the building that are included in the tour. Nice!
Now this is an excellent article on the status quo that the advertising industry is in today. The old school agencies are struggling to get their proposition right. And all kind of new ventures are out their to make that exercise even harder. This article by someone called Mr. Frog (a search professional) hits the nail. Although I do not agree on the issue that creativity and a big idea is hard to find online. The spectrum is wider than search and bannering, Mr. Frog! Read more
While the number of awards for online activities is booming, the Webby Awards do take a special place in the crowd. Busy since 1996 and respected for their high standards in judging. Every Award is a brand in itself… This year the winners include the online shop of Nike Women and the ‘do-it-yourself’ E-Shop CafePress. It is nice to see that the juries and the public often disagree about who’s the winner in the (tremendous amount of) categories. But not in every category there is a different opinion: for the Philips Bodygroom campaign in the category Beauty & Cosmetics both were unanimous. In my opinion both public and jury where right here!
