NBC's Online Olympic Ad Take: <$6MM

According to Mashable and WSJ, NBC's online video take is expected to be <$6MM. The estimate, sourced to eMarketer is widely reported to be rather small given the amount they expect to earn on TV and the $900MM NBC paid for the broadcast and online rights in the US.

But was it a lack of consumer interest, or NBC's choices that drove a smaller than expected take?

Here's what the WSJ said on that topic:

NBC limited its potential for ad revenue in a number of ways, industry analysts say. To provide a measure of exclusivity for its TV advertisers, it chose not to make available live video for some of the Games' highest-profile events. The network failed to distribute its videos widely on other sites, which would have boosted its audience.

Is $6MM actually a small number? All signs point to yes. CBS raked in $23MM for March Madness, according to the same Journal piece.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

WrapMail: Wrap Your Company Emails In Ads

What made Hotmail for a time the largest webmail venue online? Well, most credit it to tiny little text ads that appeared at the bottom of every message that was sent from their platform. I know you've seen them:

--------

Fast free email.
www.hotmail.com
Get your account today.

--------

Send and receive email anywhere
Get your Hotmail account free.
www.hotmail.com

This is what was known as passive viral - because the spreaders, who were the users of Hotmail, passively spread these messages rather than actively deciding to evangelize for Hotmail. Hotmail simply appended every message with these post scripts as they were sent.

This strategy was so effective that nearly every major webmail provider soon followed suit. Yahoo Mail, for example was and continues to be a big proponent of this strategy.

The same idea forms the basis of WrapMail. WrapMail turns the email stream of every employee into advertising inventory for your company. As an employee sends messages, small graphical ads are appended to the top and sides of the message. These ads can say what you want, including communicate your product story. Recipients can click on these messages and learn more or buy!

Here's their Tech Crunch 60 second pitch:



And here is an example of how a message might look.



The employee doesn't get distracted by the ads as they compose -- the ads are only added after s/he hits send.

The cost for this service is $5 per email user (account) per month.

For individuals that want to surround their missives with personal graphical content, WrapMail offers a free consumer version of the product. They describe it thus:

The Individual Edition is ideal for students, recent graduates, hobbyists or anyone that wants to customize their email to reflect their interests and personality. Users can create Wraps that contain content from their Facebook, MySpace, eBay or LinkedIn profiles, resumes, dating profiles, alma mater, or favorite sports teams. WrapMail is perfect for creating and sending invitations and greeting cards or surveys.

Naturally, whether this sort of approach pays out is going to depend on the category. I can certainly imagine that in some industries this could be a very compelling proposition. Real estate screams to mind first. Graphical house listings around every message sent by a realtor. That sounds big to me.

Find out more at wrapmail.com.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Tech Crunch: We Need a Digital Bill of Rights

Erick Schonfeld has a wonderful post today on Tech Crunch about the need for a Digital Bill of Rights. READ IT.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Google = God + Po Po

This article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat points to what many view as an invasion of privacy by Google's Street View effort, which sends drivers around the highways and byways of communities to photograph what you'll find there.

Apparently, the Google film crews feel they are above the law, or at least the wishes of local people who post "private property" and no trespassing sings on their communities.

Here is what one violated resident had to say:

"It isn't just a privacy issue; it is a trespassing issue, with their own photos as evidence," resident Betty Webb told the newspaper. "They really went off the track to get to our address."

Google asserts its right to go anywhere it wants. According to the article:

Google's claims to be legally allowed to photograph on private roads stems from its assertion that privacy no longer exists in this age of satellite and aerial imagery.

"Today's satellite-image technology means that...complete privacy does not exist," Google said in its response to a complaint filed in April by a Pittsburgh couple that sued Google when photographs of their home appeared on the site.

Indeed, Google appears adamant that its right to photograph streets trumps individuals' right to privacy. Internet pioneer and Google evangelist Vint Cerf told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in May that "nothing you do ever goes away and nothing you do ever escapes notice." Then, in what the newspaper described as an "intentionally flippant moment," Cerf added, "There isn't any privacy, get over it."

WTF?

Here's the best bit:

"Our policy is to not drive on private land," spokesman Larry Yu said, adding that the company hires local drivers who are given specific routes to follow. Yu retracted that statement when the newspaper told him of a driver who said he was simply told to just drive around the county and collect images.

I guess the don't do it except when they do.

I say again: WTF?

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

China Crushes Blogger Freedom of Speech -- Arrest Five at the Olympics

So much for allowing people to report what they want. China has cracked down on the blogger community at the Beijing Olympics, arresting five bloggers who had the temerity to report what is going on in Tibet. Well, at least we know the Chinese government cannot be trusted to keep their word or tell the truth about...well really anything.

Next it'll be fetuses on the uneven parallel bars. They are certainly limber, fetuses. I predict sonograms as passport photos.

But anyway, back to that little thing called freedom of speech.

This arrest spree adds names to the list of detained reporters and bloggers, which now reads:

- James Powderly
- Brian Conley
- Jeffrey Rae
- Jeff Goldin
- Michael Liss
- Tom Grant

So, hey China: Part of being recognized as a real world player is to have enough confidence in your government to tolerate dissenting POVs.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Another View of the New Seinfeld Campaign for Vista.

Another view of the Seinfeld Vista campaign. From Venture Beat.

Two Articles About TV Every Digital Marketer Should Read

I am not a regular reader of Conde Nast Portfolio but this month's issue jumped into my shopping cart for two articles -- one about the future of NBC and one about the new realities that TV types must embrace.

Conde Nast Portfolio is interesting - the focus is on the personalities and heroes of business. They describe it thus:

We see business differently.

We see it as powerful, gutsy, and passionate.
We see fascinating stories of ambition, invention, ego, drama, and conflict.
We see how business echoes throughout society—in culture and politics.
We see an arena that deserves a richly produced and designed media option.
We see the benefits of both immersive insights in print and immediate insights online.
We see an audience of engaged executives very much on the same page.

But enough of that commercial. The first article, which you can also read here if you prefer your profiles in electron form, is about NBC CEO Jeff Zucker and his plans for the network. He has a pretty impressive business record at the helm there -- 7 straight quarters of earnings growth in what has been one of the toughest ad markets in memory. He's done it through some REALLY remarkable concepts like:

1. Expansion through the acquisition of cable networks, among them Oxygen which he got for a song.
2. Cost cutting and control, in an industry that hates both.
3. Focus on fewer, higher potential pilots -- essentially trimming the new show list to a more manageable and cost effective number of higher potential properties.

It's a puff piece, but a good read.

The second article is about 6 realities that TV types must face in the new media era. It would be patently wrong for me to summarize the article, so go visit it here.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

An eBay Without Auctions: Is That The Future?

eBay has changed its revenue model to one that favors more of its fixed price "buy it now" sellers versus auctioners, all this in time for the big Christmas push.

What's that you say...an eBay without auctions? Well, no, but eBay is reporting that more than half of its current business is now from fixed price sales -- and that's where the growth is. It appears as if there are a number of forces that are leading their buyers away from the auction concept. My hypotheses:

1. With fixed price, you can be certain you are getting an item.
2. Auctions are favored by small sellers whereas volume retailers like fixed price -- and big retailers are eBay's future.
3. Auctions take too long. We live in a society that values instant gratification.
4. People are becoming bored with the concept of bidding.

I should point out that many long time eBay sellers -- who, as a group tend NOT to be giant retailers, are dissatisfied with eBay's restructuring of its fee scheme. But as the only real auction game in town. eBay can probably safely do this without losing these thousands of vendors.

I cannot help but wonder however what this will do to the eBay equity. eBay has never been Amazon, and while that may be where they are headed -- in particular copying Amazon's Z Seller model, it'll be interesting to see how their loyal buyers deal with this change as well.

What IS clear is that with auctions trending down as a percent of their business, eBay had to do SOMETHING.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Comcast to Slow Web Traffic for Heavy Users

While the FCC ruled that Comcast cannot slow the traffic for individual applications like P2P, they did NOT say that Comcast can't slow down the traffic at all. They simply have to be application neutral.

Here's a passage from ARS Technica on the topic:

The company has until the end of the year to switch to a new throttling system that doesn't discriminate based on protocol, and Comcast is now offering more details about how it will do this. Heavy Comcast Internet users: prepare to be deprioritized.

The announcement wasn't a surprise. They've been talking about this idea since at least the beginning of the year. Further, they have run in market research assessing consumer reaction to the concept in several markets.

And a little more from Ars Technica on how they expect it to work:

While the consumer experience for these users will feel like a slowdown, Comcast stresses that it isn't changing the boot file in the modem. The user's connection to the central office will continue at it normal speeds, but packets sent to and from that user will be treated with a lower priority that could result in delays relative to other users on the network. As the company explains it, the speed of the connection will remain the same, but a customer's ability to access bandwidth will change.

So I get it that heavy users cost the company more, but is anyone besides me doubting the intelligence of a decision to penalize heavy users of a product? And given the very low cost of bandwidth to the ISP, it seems misguided to me.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Jerry Signs With Vista. Alas No George, Kramer, or Elaine

Jerry Seinfeld has signed to do the advertising for the upcoming wave of support for Vista. The estimated $300 Million campaign will be the follow on to the online campaign currently running that leverages the old chestnut of the Folger's Crystals campaign.

I have not seen the campaign but love the idea of Jerry doing this. He is funny, highly credible, and has a reputation for being quite the exacting fella.

And also, I like Vista so it is nice it is getting a second shot -- with $300 Million it'll be QUITE a second shot indeed!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.