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Internet advertising revenues up by 35% in ’06 to $17 billion

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The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) released the Internet Advertising Revenue Report which shows record results for the full year and final quarter of 2006. Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. continued upward totaling $16.9 billion in 2006, a new annual record exceeding 2005 by 35%. Q4 2006 internet advertising revenues totaled $4.8 billion, representing record revenues for a single quarter and a 35% increase over same period in 2005.

“Interactive advertising revenues continue to show solid growth as advertisers and agencies recognize that it is a medium that can uniquely affect consumer behavior from product awareness, to purchase intent, to actual purchase and then brand loyalty,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “We have every confidence that this growth trend will continue as marketers allocate more of their total marketing dollars to interactive and the industry delivers effective and innovative platforms for connecting with consumers.”

The report states that search, display, classifieds and lead generation all continue to grow at a healthy rate with an increase in both performance-based and CPM or impression-based pricing. Consumer advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet advertising spending. [Click here for full report]

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Originally posted on May 23, 2007 @ 9:20 pm

Real estate search engine Trulia.com closes $10 financing

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trulia.jpgTrulia.com, a residential real estate search engine that helps consumers find homes for sale that meet specific criteria and make smarter real estate decisions, has secured a $10 million Series C round of funding led by Sequoia Capital. The round also includes previous venture investors Accel Partners and Fayez Sarofim & Co. The investment will fund Trulia’s general operations and enable the company to expand its team of real estate and search technology experts, deepen marketing and sales efforts and develop new products and services aimed at helping consumers make smarter decisions about buying and selling homes.

“Trulia has become the fastest-growing Internet real estate site, with double-digit month-over-month growth and approximately 1.5 million unique monthly visitors. We’re really excited to build on our progress to date and our potential as a media and technology company in the real estate industry to empower consumers and real estate professionals,” said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia.

Originally posted on May 25, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

Facebook is now open

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facebook.jpgFacebook announced that it is opening up its platform to third-party software developers. From hereon, developers can create applications for Facebook users and even allow companies to open retail services inside, get advertisers, and take home everything.

“You can serve ads… or if you don;t want to advertise, you can just sell something. You keep all the revenue,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO said.

The company also announced the debut of Facebook/f8, a platform that allows anyone to build applications for social computing. Beginning tonight night, Facebook said that users will be able to equip their profiles with 65 new services.

The move is seen as Facebook’s attempt to eat into MySpace territory. According to Hitwise, MySpace continued to dominate the social networking category in April 2007, with 79.7 percent of category visits. Following MySpace was Facebook with 11.47 percent of visits and Bebo with 1.28 percent of category visits. U.S. visits to MySpace increased by 70 percent from April 2006 to April 2007, while visits to Facebook were up 126 percent and visits to Bebo up 184 percent in that period.

Originally posted on May 24, 2007 @ 9:27 pm

Google maintains stronghold in search

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Google Inc. grew its U.S. market share in April, according to data from market research company NetRatings Inc. In April, Google fulfilled 55.2 percent of all Internet search queries in the U.S., up from 53.7 percent in March. Yahoo Inc. was the second leading search provider, growing its market share to 21.9 percent from 21.8 percent in March. MSN, owned by Microsoft Corp., lost market share, to 9 percent from 10.1 percent.

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Originally posted on May 23, 2007 @ 1:26 pm

StarWars.com selects Eyespot for multimedia mixing platform

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starwars.jpg“Star Wars” fans can connect with the Force in ways they’ve only imagined beginning May 25, when StarWars.com launches a completely redesigned website that empowers fans to “mash-up” their homemade videos with hundreds of scenes from “Star Wars” movies; watch hundreds of fan-made “Star Wars” videos; and interact with “Star Wars” enthusiasts from around the world like never before.

With an innovative, interactive site that allows users to navigate to multiple “Star Wars” worlds, a new video focus, and groundbreaking “Web 2.0” features – including a unique online multi-media mixing platform from Eyespot – the new StarWars.com will unveil its redesigned website on May 25 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the “Star Wars” Saga.

Among the most compelling features of the newly redesigned StarWars.com is the incorporation of an online video-editing tool provided by Eyespot. It allows users to add their own video shots to more than 250 scenes and music taken from all six “Star Wars” films and create their own “Star Wars” movies to share with others.

StarWars.com is also unveiling a new collection of hundreds of videos – many never before seen on the Internet – that will let fans enjoy some of the best user-generated “Star Wars” videos from across the web, including such cult favorites as “Chad Vader,” and five years worth of “Star Wars” Fan Movie Festival shorts, co-presented by AtomFilms.com. StarWars.com will also showcase extensive mini-documentaries that explore the making of the “Star Wars” Saga. [Read more…]

Originally posted on May 24, 2007 @ 7:04 am