Popularity: 72% [?]
Archive for June, 2009
The Slice
Saturday, June 27th, 2009Location Aware Ad Campaigns
Thursday, June 18th, 2009Three big name companies are targeting consumers with location-aware ad campaigns on a new social network.
Centrl has partnered with Navteq, a provider of digital map data for location-based services and vehicle navigation, to enable its location-based social network with Navteq LocationPoint, a mobile location-based advertising service.
Navteq LocationPoint Advertising allows advertisers to reach and engage customers on their handsets when and where they are making shopping and purchasing decisions. For example, Centrl users looking for nearby friends and a place to meet can view offers from nearby merchants.
Companies that have taken advantage of this so far include LaQuinta Inn, Chili’s and Jack in the Box. As with employers who are looking to reach job candidates, being able to cater to the location of the user makes the experience more pleasant and more efficient.
Merchant locations will be displayed on Navteq maps. On top of that, merchant services and special offers can be advertised with graphical promotions, mobile coupons and calls-to-action.
“The social element creates huge value for advertisers and also for users,” Murat Aktihanoglu, founder and CEO of Centrl, New York, said. “You don’t need to print or clip anymore offers, you can just show the merchant the details and the coupon page to enjoy the offer.
“Navteq has a very strong brand and they are visionaries in how mobile advertising can be best improved to become a powerful messaging medium,” he continued. “We very much enjoy working with Navteq on optimizing our system both from the advertisers and users point of view.
The new service, which is available on the Web, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, enables users to access discount offers, keep track of and communicate with friends, as well as access restaurant reviews, local events, real estate listings and nearby gas stations.
Social features allow users to login from social networks, send virtual gifts and free text messages while accessing maps with various content. The location-based social network allows users to connect with nearby places and people that match their interests on smartphones and social networking sites.
“Centrl is working on establishing the guidelines for the next-generation of how advertisers will best communicate with consumers,” Aktihanoglu said. “We believe that geo- and behavioral-targeted messages will be the best way and will almost provide a ‘benefit’ to users because of the high degree of targeting.
“In this regard, we found Navteq to be a great match to what we are trying to do,” he added. “While most mobile ad networks are still at the ZIP-code level in terms of geo-targeting, we have worked with Navteq from the beginning to take advantage of Centrl’s real-time rich interface and send offers to users in a very relevant way, right next to them.”
Popularity: 1% [?]
iPhone Users vs. iPod Touch Users
Thursday, June 18th, 2009AdMob recently released new research on the demographics and behavioral characteristics of iPhone and iPod touch users. The research found that while there are several similarities between users of the two devices, there are key differences in the demographic makeup of each group in areas such as age and household income.
The research found that five in 10 people use the iPhone and iPod touch more frequently than they read printed newspapers. More than 40 percent say they use the Internet on their mobile device more often than using the Internet on a computer or listening to a radio.
The research further found that iPhone users are generally older. About 69 percent of iPod touch users are between 13 and 24-years old, while only 26 percent of iPhone users are in that age group. About 31 percent of iPhone users are 35 to 49-years old, while only 12 percent of iPod touch users are in that age group. Overall, 74 percent of iPhone users are older than 25, compared to 31 percent of iPod touch users.
On top of that, more than 70 percent of iPhone and iPod touch users are male. iPhone users also have higher incomes, with 78 percent seeing an average annual household salary of at least $25,000, compared to only 66 percent of iPod touch users seeing that salary.
Also, iPhone users are more likely to have children than iPod touch users, which can be accounted for by the difference in age of the two user groups. About 46 percent of iPhone users have children, while only 28 percent of iPod touch users do.
And the research found that in the next six months, 57 percent of iPhone users plan to buy clothing, 47 percent plan to buy enteratinment and 45 percent plan to travel. When it comes to iPod touch users, 61 percent plan to buy clothing, 53 percent plan to buy entertainment and 36 percent plan to buy mobile phones within the next six months.
“This research highlights how important it is for marketers to understand the mobile landscape and the characteristics of the users of a particular platform or mobile device,” comScore Vice President Loftlon Worth said. “Putting a little extra effort into the planning process can help a mobile campaign be significantly more successful.”
The research was conducted by comScore on AdMob’s iPhone network of mobile Web sites and applications, meaning it’s representative of AdMob, but not necessarily the overall mobile population.
Popularity: 1% [?]
EmployeeScreenIQ Partners with GreenLightJobs
Monday, June 15th, 2009Cleveland, Ohio-based employeescreenIQ, an employment background screening provider, and Santa Monica, California-based Greenlightjobs, a recruitment website specializing in the digital media and entertainment space, have announced a partnership that will allow hiring professionals using Greenlightjobs’ proprietary recruitment technology to utilize background checks for employment applicants around the world.
According to Nick Fishman, Chief Marketing Officer of employeescreenIQ, “This partnership allows us to broaden our market share into the media and entertainment industries and work with greenlightjobs and their marquis client base. We are excited for the benefits this partnership brings to our mutual client base and the marketplace in general.”
According to a press release, the partnership will enable both companies to leverage existing business relationships and integrate the employment background checks process through greenlightjobs’ job board technology, and securely transport the necessary data from employeescreenIQ without duplicate data entry, allowing for greater efficiency and ultimately reducing a company’s overall time-to-fill metric.
“This partnership positions our companies competitively, offering unique products and services to our clients,” said Lisa Kaye, Founder & CEO, Greenlightjobs.com
Popularity: 80% [?]
TenderWarehouse.com: A Solution for Contractors
Monday, June 15th, 2009A new site has launched called TenderWarehouse.com that promises to be ‘an interesting solution’ for contractors.
Customers can post “Tenders” (work wanted postings) free of charge. A summary description of the job will be sent to contractors in the specified area and will appear in any searches they make through the TenderWarehouse website.
Customers will then receive offers from contractors, via the website, and can choose the best offer, based on factors such as price, reliability, experience, etc. They can refuse any offer – there is no commitment.
TenderWarehouse also provides a ratings system that allows customers to rate the contractors they have used, as well as view the ratings that potential contractors have received from other TenderWarehouse members.
Contractors can browse the Tender listings by description categories. TenderWarehouse also provides a search function that will provide more specific results.
Workers can set preferences so that the website will email new Tender listings that are within the field of expertise or local area.
At the moment, there are no fees listed on the site.
TenderWarehouse provides a data protection system for security purposes. Any information provided will be kept private and will not be provided to anyone without consent.
Popularity: 80% [?]
Kenexa CFO and CEO Charged in Lawsuit
Monday, June 15th, 2009According to Earthtimes.org, the law firm of Shalov Stone Bonner & Rocco LLP have announced that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Kenexa Corporation between May 8, 2007, and November 7, 2007.
Kenexa is a provider of recruitment software and solutions.
The lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Kenexa; Nooruddin S. Karsan, the Chief Executive Officer of Kenexa; and Donald Volk, the Company’s chief financial officer.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants violated the federal securities laws by misrepresenting and failing to disclose material adverse facts that were known to the defendants or recklessly disregarded by them.
More specifically, the complaint alleges, among other things, that the defendants misrepresented or failed to disclose the following: that sales cycles for certain of the Company’s lines of business were growing longer, thereby slowing revenue growth; that Kenexa’s international sales were suffering and that the Company would need to reorganize its sales force as a result; that a significant Kenexa customer was seeking to be released from its agreements with the Company; and that, due to the preceding matters, there was no reasonable basis for the defendants’ positive statements about the Company and its financial condition and business prospects.
Popularity: 80% [?]
BLS: 5.4 Candidates for Every Job Opening
Monday, June 15th, 2009A new report demonstrates just how competitive the job market has become. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported there were 5.4 job seekers for every employment opening in April.
That’s up from 4.8 workers for every position in March and 1.7 workers in December 2007.
“While recent labor market reports have indicated that the pace of job loss is slowing, new jobs are not yet being created, and unemployed workers are facing an increasingly uphill battle in the search for work,” Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, told BizJournals.com.
Popularity: 80% [?]
I Don’t Know What Google is Thinking
Sunday, June 14th, 2009Popularity: 1% [?]
New Mobile iGoogle for Smartphones
Friday, June 12th, 2009Google has released a new version of iGoogle for the iPhone and Android phones.
“This new version is faster and easier to use,” a company spokesperson said. “It supports tabs as well as more of your favorite gadgets, including those built by third-party developers … One of our favorite new features is the in-line display of articles for feed-based gadgets. That means you can read article summaries without leaving the page. You can also rearrange gadget order or keep your favorite gadgets open for your next visit.”
Google previously released an iGoogle interface optimized for iPhone in 2008, but it discontinued that version a year later.
“We’ve decided to direct iPhone users to the standard mobile iGoogle page,” the company said at that time. “We’ve found that people hit iGoogle from lots of different phones – we want to ensure you’ll all see the same version.”
However, the regular mobile interface is basic and only able to show feeds and a small number of gadgets. The mobile iGoogle doesn’t have tabs and is optimized for WAP phones instead of smartphones.
To access the new version of iGoogle, go to iGoogle.com on your iPhone or Android phone and click on “Try the new Mobile iGoogle.” Google won’t allow you to switch to the new version, so bookmark the page in order to access it in the future.
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