advertising

Facebook is reportedly planning to present users with television-style advertisements. However, marketing types be warned: advertising on the social networking site won't be cheap, with prices for each ad spot exceeding $2 million. Rumors of the ... video advertisements began circulating earlier this year. Now, it's been revealed the company has cemented plans to launch TV-style advertising in the coming months. According to reports, there were delays in finalizing plans because the firm wants to make sure the ads aren't too disruptive or intrusive. Video Ads Aimed At Mass Market Audience ... (view more)

Facebook has reported second-quarter earnings that far exceed experts' predictions. The key factor behind that unexpected revenue intake: mobile advertising. Facebook recently reported second-quarter earnings of 19 cents per share -- substantially ... higher than the 14 cents per share predicted by analysts. Almost half (41 per cent) of the company's $1.6 billion in advertising revenue came through mobile devices. That's also much higher than expected -- experts had predicted mobile ads to account for about one-third of Facebook's total advertising revenue. Overall, Facebook's mobile ad revenue ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning two dozen leading search engines -- including Bing, Google, and Yahoo -- that they must do more to show the difference between paid advertising and "natural" search results. The FTC warned that blurring ... the lines between the two could be classed as an unlawful and deceptive practice. The warning comes in a formal letter detailing updates to guidelines first published in 2002. The letter says that since that time, search engines are doing a worse job of distinguishing paid ads and that there has been "a decline in compliance with the letter's ... (view more)

Google is yet again under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This time the probe, which is still at a very early stage, involves the firm's advertising practices. The investigation hasn't been officially announced, but sources have ... told both Reuters and Bloomberg that it is under way. (Source: reuters.com ) This investigation centers on Google's advertising network. Specifically, the focus is on the way it accepts advertisements and then places ads on websites that sell space. Google offers its index of web content to find the site where the ad is most likely to generate ... (view more)

T-Mobile's "No Contract" deal is supposed to let a customer sever their relationship with the wireless carrier at any moment. However, Washington state officials have ordered the firm to offer refunds to people who didn't realize that quitting the ... contract would come with a fee. With most smartphone deals, the user only pays a portion of the cost of the handset, while the service provider picks up the rest of the tab. In return, the user is tied to a minimum service term (usually lasting two to three years), during which they must pay a steep early termination fee if they choose to cancel the ... (view more)

The French government has persuaded one of that country's major Internet providers to drop a plan that would have blocked all website advertising automatically. Government officials said the move could have placed the future of many successful ... websites in doubt. Free, a broadband provider to more than five million French subscribers, proposed to update software on its cable modems to, by default, block website advertisements. Its customers would see a blank space where advertisements appeared on websites delivered via its competitors' Internet services. (The firm's name -- Free -- reflects ... (view more)

A government agency wants to overhaul the rules limiting how websites collect personal data about children. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says the changes would make the rules much clearer and more effective. The current regulations stem ... from the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), which took effect in 2000 and currently applies to sites aimed at children under 13 years of age. As the rules stand, websites must clearly explain to both children and parents what data they will collect about children and how they plan to use it. Such sites must also get parental ... (view more)

Facebook's business model is based on advertising. But one disgruntled advertiser claims 80 per cent of the "people" clicking on its advertisements aren't humans at all. Limited Run is a website that lets musicians create an online store in which ... they can sell both physical CDs and digital content. Like many businesses, Limited Run created a promotional page on Facebook and then began advertising on the social networking site to attract visitors to its own home page. According to the company, however, it became suspicious that something was amiss when the details associated with the number of ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it wants consumers to know exactly what private details about them a company is collecting, storing, using, and sharing. The new regulations would be part of a plan to encourage businesses to be more ... transparent, open and honest about how they treat their customers' personal information. The FTC already has sufficient powers to establish mandatory regulations about how businesses treat their customers. In this matter, however, the agency has sought approval from Congress, suggesting that the contemplated changes would be substantial enough to go beyond ... (view more)