SFBIG has made national news – via MarketingVOX. Not yet on their website, but okay, it’s the holidays.

Turns out their Yahoo-sponsored party at the Hotel Nikko on the 20th of December raised some serious moolah for the One Laptop Per Child Initiative.
They got some $16,000 from an auction held that night, with prizes like
an Xbox 360 and restaurant gift certificates. With the money they will
purchase 80 laptops, half of which will go to children in developing
countries and the other half to kids in the Bay Area.

Ok wait. Let me do the math here. Sixteen grand divided by 80 is…um…$200. Wait, ah, stammer, cough, what? How did they do that? Since when are laptops two hundred bucks? Oh yes, this one does. And it’s such a lovely green color. And as it was designed for children all over the world, with no national or cultural boundaries, it is truly a "PC" PC. Ha. Read more about how they are making an impact in this NYT article.

Last note about the gathering – You may not feel you missed much soc-ially, what with all the other fun
stuff going on. It certainly could not have matched last month’s event
in which those 4 key questions were answered, so cleverly, so cleverly. But there was a panel on Influencers that may or may not have been worthwhile. (I cannot judge, for I-did-not attend.) But for a taste of what you missed in-tel-lect-ually, see BuzzLogic’s post on the event.

I’d like to say that I
scoured through multitudes of 2008 Online Marketing Predictions, but as they keep on
saying in Love Actually, the holidays are when you tell the truth. (Though some might think the opposite.) But I’ll be honest, I just found a few, scanned
them, and picked out the ones I liked the best. Pure subjectivity. Pure laziness.

From Mark Simon at
Didit (via Mediapost) The
Carnage Continues Lots of
once-promising Web properties will expire in 2008, just like lots of them
expired in 2007. So let’s have a moment’s silence in memory of a few departed
2007 properties, including WebJay.com, Threadwatch.org, BackFence.com,
SunRocket.com, JustinTime.com, Dotcomedy.com, Brightspot.TV, and MingleNow.com.
A certain level of carnage is normal on the Web; in fact, it’s healthy. My bet
is that we’ll see further consolidation this year among low-traffic search
engines, marginal video sites, and fourth-tier social networks. Darwinism in the virtual space rears its ugly, but necessary
head. 

From Mark Zagorski, chief marketing officer, MediaSpan Group,
Inc. (also via Mediapost) Rise of Citizen
Journalism A user-generated news
portal will launch and become the most highly trafficked news Web site in the
world. Google will purchase it and finally do what they said they wanted no
part of– becoming a content producer. But they will do so without hiring a
single writer. In terms of likeliness, this is more of a stretch than the
previous two, but wouldn’t it be interesting?

From B.L. Ochman on the What’s Next Blog.  Privacy
will be the issue of the year. Yes, yes, YES. Short but
sweet, she put her finger on something that may eclipse interest in
consolidation, political agendas, and mobile networks. Because privacy is
something entirely, well, personal. As Internet use increases in both scope and
depth, I agree that we’re going to get increasingly fed up – and scared – at the
amount of personal information potentially streaming out to the masses, not to
mention the enterprises. Someone, somewhere, somehow, is going to put a clamp
down. Or at least an absorbent gauze pad.

Anybody who’s anybody is getting into online video. We knew it and you know it. It’s been raging the airwaves — ok, bandwidth — for quite some time now, and may tie with Facebook for being the 2007 trend of the year. (Kate Maddox was one of many who called it out back in ’06 as being a hot item. Then again, she also said email was going to keep on truckin’, and it’s not doing so well.) Fifty-seven percent of online adults have used the internet to watch or
download video, and 19% do so on a typical day. Teen use too is up. Lotsa lotsa viewers, and you know what that means. Advertisers.

Those that watch online video are 47% more engaged in ads that run with TV programs that they view online than those they see on actual TV, Mediapost reports. So it’s no wonder that advertisers are getting geared up to really take advantage of online video.

But this article from the Boston Globe tells us that we might have to hold our horses.

…video takes up a lot of space, a lot more than text, and the
increased use of video means that the Internet is fast filling up. The
result is that if we don’t invest soon, we could be seeing, in the near
future, the Internet equivalent of an early evening traffic jam on
Interstate 93. It could take forever for your photos or video to
download or for your e-mail to arrive.

Maybe by the time this happens, we won’t care anymore about photos or email. But that’s almost like saying by the time we run out of fossil fuels we won’t care because everyone will have electric cars and self-powered ‘green’ homes. But it looks like we’re already on top of it and there may be a green tech revolution on the way.

It’s 10 pm. Do you know where your children are? (We hope you do, but not by using this method.)

Better yet, do you know what they’re doing? I hate to tell you this, but they’re probably online. Despite the relieving news that teenagers still value face time and phone conversations, the generations are becoming more and more digitally wired, using instant messaging, texting, and internal message systems at Facebook and MySpace. Mobile phone applications on these sites are also big, though have recently run into some legal trouble. (Email is the big loser, with only 14% saying that they’re using it daily to keep in touch with friends.)

And though parents may preach of good old family values, and the dangers of becoming addicted to the Internet, 55% of  all online teens use social networking sites regularly and consider them to be
"important in their social
lives." They’ve become a way not just to communicate short messages, but to share content. More than half have shared photos, videos or other artistic work
online. And the SF Chronicle reports that two-thirds have "created something online, whether it’s a personal Web page or a remixed video". Yes, they truly are the mashup generation. I don’t know about you, but I think this is much, much better than gaming, which is still the #1 online activity of the age 6-11 set.

Still freaked out? Check out the Parent’s Guide to Social Networking: Helping Your Kids Socialize Safely Online. Or switch your focus a bit to yourself. Many moms have been feeling undervalued, ignored, and left out of the experience — by marketers, too. Don’t fall into the trap of advertising to kids, who are easily drawn in. Easy come, easy go. Mothers, on the other hand, if you do it right, are in it for the long haul.

The FTC was supposed to jump in and block the Google-DoubleClick deal, on two counts.

And then they didn’t.                 Why oh why?

• Antitrust The proposed acquisition was originally seen by third-parties as likely to substantially lessen competition. They’ve ruled the opposite. Four to one, "unlikely." They looked first at the threat of elimination of direct competition between the two companies and decided that it wasn’t a factor. Duh.

But then it got a little more complicated. Would Google’s effort to enter third party ad
serving markets through this merger eliminate a competitor? No, they said, because the current competition is strong. Well, yes, it is now. But what kind of implications is this going to have on future markets? As Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour wrote:

I am convinced that the
combination of Google and DoubleClick has the potential to profoundly alter the
21 century Internet-based economy — in ways we can imagine, and in ways we
cannot." No, we cannot.

• Privacy Actually, the FTC doesn’t really have any jurisdiction over this issue because it does not directly relate to antitrust. Commissioners said that such issues are “not unique to Google and
  DoubleClick,” and “extend to the entire online advertising marketplace.” Ouch!

• AdSensical They were wondering if Google could exploit DoubleClick’s position in the the third party ad serving markets and ultimately benefit AdSense. But that is assuming that Doubleclick has a commanding position in the market, which they concluded they do not. I guess sometimes it pays to buy a loser. I know, name-calling never got us anywhere – except in kindergarten. And then it got us quite far.

If this is depressing you, and you want a little pick-me-up, read more about the FTC’s adamant support of a competitive marketplace here.

Or check out this little viral. It kind of reminded me that no matter what happens, at least I’m not Britney. And at least I have the important things in life, like maps.

Craving "News of the Weird"? Stealing bites of The Onion during your lunch hour? Look no further than your own industry, my dears. There are many oddities in the world of interactive advertising.

– A digital shop has acquired a traditional advertising agency. Isn’t it supposed to go the other way?

– A Forrester study shows that CMO’s "want more involvement in business strategy development" – but report significantly minimal levels of connection with customers. Fewer than half of CMOs identified being the voice of the customer a top priority for their personal success…[and] even fewer identified listening to/interacting with customers, and personal knowledge of customers, as crucial to their jobs. Don’t know about you, but last I checked, attention to customers’ needs ranks pretty high for biz dev.

– Site managers are urged to stick with "more traditional ad formats." You know, like banner ads. Huh?

– Facebook is starting to (counter)sue people, for hacking, data mining, and other silliness. The latest is Canadian porn company Istra Holdings. Thanks, guys, for destroying my image of Canadians as being cute, innocent, and mostly harmless.

– Forget the 30-second spot. São Paulo native Fernando Ferreira, aka "Non-Stop Fernando", tries to show that longer is better in an Emirates advertisement that is 14 hours and 40 minutes long – the amount of time it takes to travel from Dubai to his home city.

The good news is, a handy counter on the online version allows viewers to skip ahead to the juicy parts. Assuming there are any.

In case you didn’t have time to read The Year in Advertising in BusinessWeek, here are some choice bits I’ve picked out for you.

Where did the money (for traditional advertising) go?
The money hasn’t disappeared; it’s just that some of it is being
invested in places other than "traditional" advertising—primarily in
products and services themselves. The creativity that was once the
preserve of advertising has surfaced in rapidly expanding research and
development departments at a new generation of creative innovation
businesses.

Who Cares about the Ad? Demand Quality from the Product / Service.
We’ve moved past the point where bragging rights belong to the creators
of articulate analogies or metaphors for why one generic car drives
better than another. Instead we’re beginning to see a greater focus on something that is not
even a new idea—that the products and services businesses create should
be fundamentally good.

Listen to The People.
Technology has, intentionally or not, given us open channels to
millions of people, and with them instant feedback on the products we
make and the messages we deliver. Choose to ignore that and we will
certainly fail. Choose to listen and we can deliver better products and
services in a genuine way. That seems like a good idea.

For Johnny Vulkan’s slideshow on the Top Trends of 2007, click here.

B.L.
Ochman posed an interesting question last week on the power of consumer
reviews. “Why are companies so scared of consumers?” she asked. “Why do
so many view consumer review sites, social networks, blogs, and other online
communities as a threat?” She notes that many communities are user-regulated,
so that if someone did post a negative review, it wouldn’t freak out a
potential consumer if it was canceled out by a larger number or better-written
positive review. I agree. If I see a bad restaurant review on Yelp, for
instance, I’m not going to just click away; I’ll read on to see if perhaps it
was a fluke or if the rest of the content is of such as low-quality that it detracts
from the credibility of the reviewer.

Moreover, consumers demand
information and will not trust a brand or product unless they have what they
feel is the full picture. The e-Marketer
article, before concluding that consumer product reviews tend to boost, not
hurt, sales, argues that there are essential “trust-building” aspects of a
commerce website: easy site navigation, good search tools, and complete product
information. With these foundations in place, a business is setting itself up
for a solid e-marketing platform. Consumer reviews, then, should be considered
as supplementary, not central to the overall e-commerce effort.

The latest trend
this holiday season, in addition to cause-related marketing (go CSR! Green!
will it ever stop!) has been in social-network shopping. The American Marketing
Association reported
that “consumers [are] seeking out a chance to use social networking sites as a
way to chat and share opinions on holiday gifts.” Forty-four percent of
consumers say that the best way to connect them with new products or services
is through online channels.

Now let’s
put two and two, or rather, two and fifty-eight together, to reach the 60
million U.S.
baby boomers that will use the Internet next year. Think, people. Although baby
boomers’ Web-surfing habits are “more firmly rooted in
traditional media” you cannot hide behind the excuse of not being
able to teach old dogs new tricks. I know plenty of old dogs who experience a
renaissance in their late 60’s (in human years that would be around age 9) and
might be open to the use of social media. It makes sense – baby boomers have
the potential to be true influencers. They are older and wiser, their favorite
consumer goods are items in which people are very open to receiving advice:
travel, financial services, health and fitness and luxury goods. Who doesn’t
want to hear what their friends’ recommend as an amazing travel destination,
high-return investment, senior-friendly gym or yoga studio, or a “so worth it”
piece of jewelry or real estate? And why, since they are on the Internet, have
the time to be social, and love to give advice, would they not utilize social
networks to do so? C’monnn, baby boomers. Catch up.

A report on NewsFactor predicts that local online ad spending will grow an incredible 48 percent in 2008 to $12.6 billion. Driving this trend are the new favored horses outta the block – paid search and video advertising. But pay attention to this – the Big 3 advertising segments for 2008 are going to be the categories of automotive,
recruitment, and real estate, and of course Election ’08 adding a few extra bucks. 

From ReadWriteWeb: 

Automobile
ads are an especially prime area for growth in the local market,
according to researchers. In fact, The Kelsey Group expects that by
2010 nearly 40% auto advertising will be done via local online and
directional media — an estimated $10.8 billion piece of the pie.

Now that big automotive companies like GM are allowing their regional dealerships to select their own creative and media agencies, allowing them more flexibility in their individual markets. This is especially important in an area where local advertising is so important. And taking $500 million in billings out of the hands of the people in Detroit? That’s cause enough for celebration.

And with powerful issues in the automotive industry like customer retention and other aspects of a so-called upscale product pushing change, this is sure to be, shall we say, the dawning of a new era? ValueClick has put out a white paper with a few tips n’ tricks for effective online advertising in the automotive category, like "planning across a wide range of lifestyle sites" and making sure to optimize. Lesson here being, don’t assume that the Palo Alto mom wants a Hybrid Escape. Prove it first. Then tell her about the promotion at her local dealership — and don’t expect Detroit to pay for it.

AdWeek reports
that the upcoming presidential race will cause political ad spend to reach
$3.03 billion during the 2008 election cycle. Although broadcast TV still
weighs in as the biggest channel, with 51.3 percent of the total, there will be a noticable shift
away from TV, into more targeted methods like PR, promotions, event
marketing and the Internet. In fact, the PQ Media study
predicted that Internet ad spending will show the fastest growth during the
2008 campaign, with an estimated 84 percent increase from 2006.

But wait. Maybe we’re not quite ready for the revolution. Diane
Mermigas of Mediapost opines:

Despite
consumers’ rapid adoption of specific interactive platforms and devices,
politicians and advertisers are still learning how to make the most of micro
targeting and rallying the forces on the Net. While a handful of presidential
hopefuls aggressively peddle their platforms online, most campaigning still
happens face-to-face, on the road or on television.

And they’re
still sort of waiting for it to get easier – or at least proven effective. Going beyond YouTube and political blogs and forums is going to be essential. Until the Internet becomes more of a messaging tool, “candidates will be a little gun shy to push a
bunch of money out to the Web,” said Evan Tracey, founder and COO of Campaign
Media Analysis Group.

Another problem
is we can’t measure year by year, especially considering that this year is such
a free-for-all, with such a large number of candidates. Jason Chervokas of
Social Media Club wrote
last spring of the boon in broadcast ads, “…my guess is that it will be the
last of these such national election cycles. A comparison of the online
political ad spend vs. TV in 2008 and 2012 will tell the tale.”

The clock is ticking…