As Jon Stewart starts to get much less partisan in his skewering of the day’s news he is getting funnier than ever.
Here is his take on the Apple tax ‘issue’ in which the company is using legitimate tax loopholes to pay nothing on $44 billion in income. (NOTE: If video window does not show completely at first refresh browser and ‘Poof!’ there it is)
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Tax Men – Apple | ||||
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Here is the original:
Jon Stewart on Apple Tax ‘Hearing’
Google looks like it will probably be hiring yet again in their legal department. Well, there is no announcement to that effect but considering the number of countries stepping up to the plate to take a swing at the company for search and display tactics they are probably going to need the help.
Bloomberg is reporting that the FTC is looking into Google’s way of promoting its DoubleClick platform vs the other display ad platform options that exist. Once again there seems to be this idea that Google is a public utility even though it is a private company but anyway.
From Bloomberg we get the following.
Google Inc. is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said.
The fresh inquiry, which follows the FTC’s decision to close a review of Google’s search business in January without taking action, is in the preliminary stages and may not expand into a larger probe, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter hasn’t been made public.
If you would like a quick chuckle take a look at the video version of the Bloomberg report. Toward the end of the segment, the use of off-topic video of Google Glass really enhances the report 
.
Will this turn into anything for real? That remains to be seen. The political climate is what drives this and Google has played an interesting game in that they have been staunch supporters of President Obama (actually uncomfortably so but that’s just my opinion).
Many ex-Googlers have had various government positions during this administration. When you see things like this you have to wonder how much is for show which makes it even worse. Is Google protected by the government because of its political leanings? That’s for the conspiracy theorists to argue about but it’s something to consider.
As far as true free market principles go many wonder just why Google gets attention at all. Could it be just as an example that is used to scare other companies ‘into line’ while knowing full well that nothing will happen to Google, at least not in the US? That would be tragic but is it out of the question? I don’t think so.
Lots of speculation. Lots of questions. In the end, it’s a distraction that proves once again that the less government involvement in most businesses the better and vice versa.
Your thoughts?
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Here is the original:
Google Reportedly Facing FTC Probe on Display Advertising Tactics
If you think 740 million video views sounds like a lot, prepare yourself for a shock. According to the latest comScore Video Metrix’s report, YouTube visitors (in combination with other Google properties) watched 13 billion videos in April. Yes, billion with a ‘b’.
What’s really fascinating is the rate of the climb. Look at these charts for April and February.
In three months, the list, particularly in number of videos viewed is incredible. In February, Facebook had just crossed the half a million mark. Now, they’re almost at 750 million. The difference in the number of unique viewers isn’t as drastic because, let’s face it, we have to be reaching the max pretty soon, right? But as you can see from the last column, it’s not about more people, it’s about more minutes per person.
In February, Facebook users watched 19.9 minutes, now they’re up to 25.
Google viewers jump from 362 minutes to 401 minutes. That’s over six hours of viewing per person. There’s no way that number is coming down anytime soon. Not with more people posting more videos every minute of every day. Add in all of the streaming TV and movie options, webshows, online news broadcasts. . the internet is bending under the weight of all this video.
The good thing for marketers is that a large portion of this content comes with an ad attached.
Americans viewed a record 13.3 billion video ads in April, with Google Sites ranking first with 2.4 billion ads.
Video ads reached 53 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 82 times during the month.
Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 63.
Other notable findings from April 2013 include:
On a related note, YouTube star Felicia Day is creating her own vlogger network. She put out a call to all of the “Geek and Sundry” fans to submit their best YouTube videos and those submissions will then be evaluated by her staff and her followers. The best of the best will get to join the new vlogger channel.
The new network is a smart way to keep fresh content on the channel at all times and it’s a sweet tip of the hat to all those fabulous fan creators who don’t have the following Ms. Day has. I think it’s a great idea that will become more popular as the video-sphere continues to grow.
Read the original post:
Facebook Users Watched 740 Million Videos in April. . And Only Came in Second
Target recently launched a new digital coupon app called Cartwheel that is supposed to make shopping more social. It begins with a great idea; personalized digital coupons but from there, the wheel gets a little wobbly.
Here’s how it works. First, you have to log on to the Cartwheel site and sign-up using your Facebook login. You must have a Facebook account to use the program and that seems like an unnecessary hurdle. The point is to get more people to shop at Target, right? But if I don’t want to give you access to my Facebook account, then I’m out. Hmmm. . .
Once you’re in, you’re presented with a grid of themed, coupon flipcards. If you don’t see what you want, you can use the search box to find coupons on a specific item or browse more than 20 coupon collections such as Baby Essentials, Pet Love, Men’s Must-haves, etc. It’s a lot to take in.
Here’s a row dedicated to Memorial Day BBQ’s.
When you click a card it flips over. Now you start choosing buttons. The “add” button puts the coupon into your Cartwheel. The “share” button posts the offer to Facebook (sorry Twitter, no go). The “details” button shows the expiration date, rules for redemption and how many others have redeemed this coupon.
Right now, all of the offers I could see ranged from 5% to 10% off an item. Not bad, but not stellar, either. You can use each discount up to 4 times unless otherwise noted. What makes this a better deal is that you can combine Cartwheel deals with manufacturer coupons and Target’s Red Card discount as well. That’s what us couponers call double dipping. That’s also how you turn a good deal into a “I got this for free” deal.
Target limits the number of coupons you can load per trip. They give you ten slots to start, six a day after that. To unlock more spaces you have to earn badges (*rolls eyes*) by shopping and sharing and following the red brick road.
Now it’s time to go redeem your coupons and that’s where it gets a little tricky. All of your current offers get combined into one bar code. The foolproof way to go is to print the bar code page while you’re still home and on the website. But printing just feels wrong – these are digital coupons after all.
If you like to live on the edge, just go to Target and shop. When you hit the checkout, call up the app on your phone. Not the Target app, from what I can see, Cartwheel doesn’t show up on the store app. You have to log-in through Facebook and pull it up on your browser. (Not sure if you can get there from the Facebook mobile app. . . ) Do Target stores have free Wifi?
Find Cartwheel, login, find your page, find your bar code, show the bar code to the cashier, wait for her to say, “huh, I’ve never seen this before, let me call my manager,” hand her more coupons wait for her to stop being confused by two sets of coupons, pay for your order and you’re done. Easy!
Target could simplify the whole process if they just included the Cartwheel barcode in the Target app. (Feel free to correct me if I’m not getting this right.)
As for the forced social sharing in order to get more coupons – that could work. Women have been known to dumpster dive for more inserts, so what’s a little sharing between friends if it means an extra 10% off hot dog buns.
Target, I’m giving you a “A” for effort but a “C+” for execution.
Credit:
Target’s New Cartwheel Takes the Long Way Around to Digital Couponing
Twitter is deepening its love affair with TV through new Amplify partnerships.
On the Twitter blog the company toots its own horn but its not like they are saying anything out of line, it’s just the truth.
Less than six months in, 2013 has already been a remarkable year for the nexus between television and Twitter. The vast majority of the online public conversation around TV currently happens on Twitter – 95 percent, according to Crimson Hexagon. Half of all national Super Bowl commercials had hashtags on them, helping guide viewers to the collective conversation. And you can’t turn on the news without hearing a Tweet referenced.
It is getting more and more difficult actually to not see Twitter referenced just about everywhere. Well, don’t expect that pace to slow any in the wake of an increasing number of agreements with properties and advertisers to create a more multi-screen environment for users. The blog post continues
On the ads side, Twitter has further amplified the social TV conversation with real-time, dual-screen sponsorships and in-Tweet video clips from broadcasters. ESPN and Ford Fusion led the way, bringing football fans Instant Replays in Tweets during every college football bowl game. During March Madness, Turner Sports, the NCAA, AT&T and Coke Zero followed suit, offering fans Real-Time Highlights of hoops action throughout the tournament. And now, during the home stretch through the 2013 Finals, the NBA is pushing the best Rapid Replays from TV, through a Tweet, to your mobile phone thanks to Sony Pictures, Sprint and Taco Bell.
An example of the NBA Playoffs and the use of this multi-screen approach is seen below.
Roy Hibbert’s BIG block. One of the nicest you’ll see #NBARapidReplay – on.nba.com/Z4vJmb
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2013
So how far might this reach? Take a look at the list of recent additions. Oh by the way, the cool kids are apparently calling this “Twitter Amp”.
Today we’re announcing yet another wave of multi-screen partners, from television and beyond. Along with these new partners, we now have a name for this partnership program: Twitter Amplify.
A&E (@AETV)
theAudience
Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV)
Clear Channel (@ClearChannel)
Conde Nast (@CondeNastCorp)
Discovery (@Discovery)
Major League Baseball (@mlbdotcom)
National Cinemedia (@NCMonline)
New York Magazine (@NYMag)
PGA Tour (@PGATOUR)
PMC (@Variety)
Time Inc. (@Time_Inc)
VEVO (@VEVO)
Warner Music (@warnermusic)
WWE (@WWE)
VICE (@VICE)
Screens, screens and more screens. This is a good thing, right? Well, let’s not leave you without having a video from another Twitter blog post to help clarify things (which this one does actually).
Twitter Amplify may just make social media even louder than it is already. Are you ready?
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The rest is here:
Twitter Turns Up Ad Game with Twitter Amplify