Advertisers need to get to grips with social networking and the changing marketplace, according to the IPA’s second future of advertising report. The IPA has teamed up with the Future Foundation, a global strategic consultancy and think tank, to produce ‘Social Media Futures – The Future of advertising and agencies in a networked society: A… Continue reading IPA: Social Networking Revolution

Global advertising markets recorded 2.9% growth in the quarter from July to September 2008, in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, according to Nielsen’s global advertising trends report, Global AdView Pulse. In the three months to September 2008, the global advertising market posted a 2.9% increase versus the same quarter in 2007, mostly driven by the… Continue reading Global ad markets saw 2.9% growth in Q3 2008

Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has ruled out a merger with Five as a cure for the funding problems it faces.Duncan, speaking today at an event organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, said that a merger would be like mixing “oil with water”.He said: “We have been carefully considering… Continue reading Andy Duncan rules out merger with Five

Big online stories of 2008 included the uncertain future of Project Kangaroo, the end of JICIMS, and the three-way wrestling match between Microsoft, Google and Yahoo!.Microsoft launched a $44.6 billion takeover bid to buy Yahoo! at the start of the year, saying that it was confident of delivering up to $1 billion in cost savings… Continue reading 2008 round-up: Online

Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent, is set to buy London’s Evening Standard in a deal that will see him become the first Russian oligarch to own a major British newspaper. Lebedev is reportedly poised to take a controlling 76% stake of the struggling title, while the Evening Standard‘s parent group Daily Mail & General… Continue reading Ex-KGB spy poised to buy Evening Standard

The lines between media channels in the 21st century have become increasingly blurred, according to the third annual Media Myths & Realities survey from Ketchum and the University of Southern California Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center. The survey compares the media usage habits of 1,000 adult Americans (including 200 influential citizens, or ‘influencers’ – the… Continue reading Lines between media channels becoming increasingly blurred

Google accounted for 71.97% of all US internet searches conducted in the four weeks ending Nov 29, 2008, according to new figures from Hitwise. Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and Ask.com received 17.70%, 5.45% and 3.35%, respectively. The remaining 43 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.53% of US searches. Percentage… Continue reading Google accounts for 72% of US internet searches in November 2008

The Christmas period significantly boosted a number of retail websites, with the top 10 sites seeing an average 37% year on year increase, according to new data by Nielsen Online. Online retailers in the UK witnessed an impressive rise in unique users during Q4 compared with the Christmas shopping period in 2007, with Amazon averaging… Continue reading Christmas boosts retail websites

The IPA’s latest Bellwether survey published today has found that in Q4 2008 annual marketing budgets were revised down to the greatest extent ever recorded in the report’s nine-year history. The cut was the fifth successive quarterly reduction in spend, and 2009 is set to see further cuts, with a number of companies setting their… Continue reading Q4 2008 Bellwether Report: Record Marketing Budget Cuts

Freesat, the joint free satellite service from ITV and the BBC, has achieved more than 200,000 sales since its launch in May last year.According to company figures, the not-for-profit service saw total sales double in the final quarter of 2008.Emma Scott, managing director of Freesat, said: “We saw consumers increasingly drawn to Freesat at the… Continue reading Freesat sales top 200,000