Adify Acquired by Cox for $300mm

Congratulations to the Adify team - who I've gotten to know through their YardBarker Network relationship (which beRecruited has used).

TechCrunch is reporting that Adify was acquired for $300mm by Cox Enterprises. The interesting part of this acquisition is that, like the ad-network acquisitions, it was in that $250-$300mm sweet spot... but Adify isn't an ad network like Blue Lithium and Tacoda - Adify is unique because they enable companies to power their own ad networks (sales, payments, units, tracking, etc).

Again, congrats!

Widgetbox Widgetizes Your iPhone, Redesigns Widgetbox.com

Two exciting new launches from Widgetbox:

1. If you have an iPhone (unlike my), you can now place widgets directly on your home-screen. There are currently 16 widgets available - but more are coming! iPhone users can go to http://iphone.widgetbox.com to get started.

Read more on TechCrunch, WebWare, and Mashable.

2. We redesigned Widgetbox.com. It's much more dynamic - and frankly, it's much more fun. You can now browse through our 50,000 widgets with a variety of different sorts (for instance, take a look at the hottest widgets page).

Yahoo Responds to Google Paid Search Results, Removes Minimum Bid Prices

As noted in my last post, Google's latest paid search data demonstrates that power of ad quality and dynamic pricing requirements. This email just arrived from Yahoo - explaining that they are changing their paid search pricing models (a reaction to Google's latest data? of course): Pricing Update: Minimum Bids are no Longer Fixed at $.10

What you need to know... • Sponsored Search minimum bids are no longer fixed at $.10. • Content Match minimum bids currently will remain at $.10. • Higher ad quality may help you receive lower minimum bids. • Currently applies to U.S. accounts only. • Sign up for a pricing update webinar. • Log into your account regularly to check keyword status.

Starting today, the minimum bids for some Sponsored Search keywords are no longer fixed at $.10. Minimum bids can now be lower or higher than $.10. Content Match minimum bids currently will remain at $.10. Throughout the next week, you may start noticing new minimum bids on some of your keywords. You will be notified by email and within your account when the status of any of your keywords is affected.

The amount set as your minimum bid on a keyword in Sponsored Search can vary depending on multiple factors, such as: • The number of bidders and bid amounts in the particular keyword market • The quality of your keywords, or their relevance to advertisers, as measured by the quality of the ads associated with them

How it Works • Your keyword is active—or eligible for display—when your current bid is equal to or greater than your minimum bid for that keyword. • Your keyword becomes inactive if your bid falls below your minimum, and won't be displayed unless your minimum bid is met. • You'll be notified when your bid is too low, and will have up to several days to adjust your bid.

Read more at Yahoo.

Google's Numbers: Conversions +24%, CTRs +19% and CPCs +11%

The most interesting outcome of yesterday's strong Google earnings came from Efficient Frontier, who released a report on Q1 search engine performances:

In Q1 2008,Google accounted for 77 percent of total search spend, gaining 3.3 percentage points in share of search spending from Q1 2007. Return on investment (ROI) on Google improved by 24 percent, click-through rates (CTRs) improved by 19 percent, and cost per click (CPC) rates increased by 11 percent in the period between Q1 2007 and Q1 2008, suggesting that large-scale advertisers are benefiting from Google's quality updates and can continue to afford its higher CPCs, particularly given the increase in ROI.

Google has improved conversions (24%), click-throughs (19%) and CPCs (11%) - a consequence of strictly enforcing advertising quality measures (which Comscore noted led to declining paid search clicks). By removing the clutter of untargeted ads (particularly on generic or branded terms) leads to more effective, premium placements (at premium prices).

Equally interesting, it appears that Yahoo has now implemented more restrictive ad pricing requirements - on a dynamic basis (just like Google). A reaction to Google's earnings and Efficient Frontier's data?

Web 3.0 - Making Web 2.0 More Efficient

Great post on TechCrunch today named Web 3.0 Will Be About Reducing the Noise—And Twhirl Isn’t Helping. Eric Schonfeld included the below screenshot from his desktop and sadly, it reminded me of mine...

Eric is right - if web 2.0 is all about creating and finding content; web 3.0 will have to be about simplifying the output.

Two examples:

1) I can't get myself excited about FriendFeed because I already have accounts elsewhere... that I use frequently. And while FriendFeed consolidates the output, it doesn't offer the same utility on the input. Furthermore, for me to change my stubborn-but-efficient internet habits, I need to be compelled with *increased* utility. And to the initial point of this post - I'm not convinced that platforms like FriendFeed simply the web.

2) I am approaching 1500 unread emails in Gmail (currenty 1471). A productive day might reduce that load by 100 or so... but I haven't been under 1,000 unread emails in months. A (positive) consequence of web 2.0 is open communication and social interaction - consolidating my online activity and communication can become overwhelming. Hopefully web 3.0 brings a killer email app... I'd pay a pretty penny for it.

DirecTV Commercial with John Michael Higgins - They Just Don't Get It

My favorite ad campaign at the moment is DirecTV's spoof of Comcast and other cable providers. They have the 'Best in Show'-cast starring and John Michael Higgins tries to convince the executives of ways that his cable company should combat DirecTV. The best spot is when Higgins says they need to go viral and "blog it out". Great stuff.

But DirecTV doesn't get it.

The commercials are terrific and ripe for blogging (as they suggest)... but the ads aren't even embeddable or available on YouTube. Here is their flash file in widget form - enjoy the commercial and the irony:

Trying to Keep the Microsoft, News Corp, AOL, Yahoo Gossip Straight

Nearly a week into the three-week Microsoft ultimatum, there are a sudden flurry of developments and rumors... enough activity that (I imagine) something significant will happen shortly:

- Microsoft gave Yahoo a three-week notice - Yahoo announces today that they will test ads with Google - Microsoft responds to the announcement with force and threat - Meanwhile, Yahoo is negotiating with AOL to merge... discussions are apparently quite far along - ... Enough so that Microsoft and News Corp might be joining forces to improve their Yahoo bid

AOL + Yahoo sounds like a mess.

I already like Microsoft + Yahoo - and adding MySpace (and News Corp's content properties / relationships) makes it even more attractive and powerful.

InGameNow.cow Launches Beta Version

Very exciting news for sports fans everywhere. For the last couple months, I've written about sfEntrepreneurs and the work that our organization has been doing.

On the same night that Kansas and Memphis battle for NCAA Championship, InGameNow.com has officially launched it's beta version.

InGameNow Logo

InGameNow allows sports fan to interact around teams, leagues and games. Follow your favorite teams and connect with other sports fans over real-time scores, banter, news and gossip. Staying atop of the sports world is now simple... and more importantly - fun.

This is also InGameNow's Beta version. We have plenty of features that are coming shortly... features that will keep you even more connected your favorite teams, games and InGameNow users.

So go ahead - give InGameNow a test drive. Start collecting points and keep an eye out for the new features that we'll be adding (day over day)!

Register Now!

Google's New AdSense Unit

I've uploaded photos of various Google AdSense test units before - but I've been seeing this new AdSense unit quite regularly and really like it.

The arrows scroll through other relevant AdSense ads. The interaction is immediate and slick. And I anecdotally, I've found myself rolling through ads out of curiosity or interest (hoping to find more relevant ads). My guess is that the data Google is able to capture from user interactions / clicks here is potentially more powerful than their AdWords data. Fascinating stuff.

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