Chart of the day.... Display Ad Spending Share, By Format -

Key questions this chart can address:

• How are advertisers buying display inventory?
• What industry trends are influencing how they buy inventory?
• Which ad inventory sources and buying methods are best suited to help media buyers meet their campaign objectives?

We & Co..

This technology is very hot right now, and I am curious to again see who wins this race. From breweries to university campus, the idea of connecting strangers with GPS devices and then being able to advertise to them is hug.

We & Co is another entering the space. This is an article worth reading!

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/22/weco-these-are-the-people-in-your-neighborhood-bar-coffee-shop-etc/

So here it is, the top 20 most expensive keyword categories on Google Adwords..

Yes, its true, Google makes alot of money from Adwords advertising, in fact 97% of their revenue, which is approximately some $33B last year. So which categories are the most expensive to advertise in? Check out the list below..

The top twenty keyword categories that demanded the highest costs per click are:

1. Insurance (example keyword: “auto insurance price quotes”)
2. Loans (example keyword: “consolidate graduate student loans”)
3. Mortgage (example keyword: “refinanced second mortgages”)
4. Attorney (example keyword: “personal injury attorney”)
5. Credit (example keyword: “home equity line of credit”)
6. Lawyer
7. Donate
8. Degree
9. Hosting
10. Claim
11. Conference Call
12. Trading
13. Software
14. Recovery
15. Transfer
16. Gas/Electricity
17. Classes
18. Rehab
19. Treatment
20. Cord Blood

Google + is a go!

I have to admit I like Google Plus, a-lot! My initial impressions have been very good, clean design, intuitive layout that does well to combine photo sharing with a very private feeling "circles" feature. Perhaps my favourite feature is this ability to create circles, providing the feel of lots of mini social networks within one. No longer am I nervous that I am sharing photo's/video's and updates with long forgotten "friends" or work colleges that I would rather remain on a professional level with. Google nailed this one. Also, it is worth highlighting the fun nature of the group video calling feature, known as "hang-outs". Something that is leaps and bounds ahead of Facebook's recently announced Skype integration. Hang-outs by contrast feels easy to use, fun, and by the very definition, social.


If you do not have a Google plus account yet, simply find someone who does and ask him/her to invite you to join. Its that simple, contagious, and may I say a good way to clean up that Facebook friend list you have meaning to do for a while....

What do you love? http://www.wdyl.com/#

What do you love? Just tell Google and your will be presented with a mosaic list of ways to explore your "love". I tried Rugby and up popped various maps, articles, recommended videos to watch and a link to gmail, just in case I wanted to tell some friends how much I love Rugby.


Not entirely sure where this is heading, seems very tablet oriented to me, but click on through and at least have some fun!
http://www.wdyl.com/#

And we are off - Mobile Payments making progress

CSI Virtual MasterCard app bringing mobile payments to iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/27/exclusive-csi-virtual-mastercard-app-bringing-more-mobile-payme/

U-Deals from Loopt

I have to admit I think this is a good idea, in fact so much so, that I was discussing the very same concept recently with some colleagues. Loopt is offering a service that allows users to indicate what deal they would like to see, and once there is some sort of critical-mass behind it, Loopt will reach out to the business to try and arrange the deal. Now there are so big but's here. For instance, what the people want is not always what the people get. I'd like a Xbox360 for $30, but that doesn't mean its going to happen. Plus it does not attract merchants/businesses to be proactive in reaching out to a new customer base, for example, I own a new hotel that very little people have heard of, and I want to attract new customers and build repeat business. In this scenario  Loopt users have never heard of me, and thus cannot 'vote' for a deal from me. The very nature of success for coupon sites is that the user is tipped to the point where they cannot say no to a great offer (probably why I am heading to restaurants with my friends that I would probably never have gone too, simply because they snagged a coupon!). That said, if Loopt can find a way to bring new merchants to the forefront easily, then users may be inclined to jump on the band-wagon.


For details of U-Deals, check out this article from Tech Crunch..
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/22/loopt-u-deals/