FB App and Widget Quote Relevant to Publishers and Advertisers

Quote from OMMA article that is relevant to publishers and advertisers:

The panelists agreed that publishers or advertisers planning to use widgets need to make sure they have enough quality content to feed them with and an actual strategy for promoting them--because widgets don't just go viral by chance. "Viral growth is engineered," said Goldstein.

"You can't just build a widget, put it somewhere and they come," said Boissiere. "The initial burst comes from seeding a widget inline with content. Users are going to NBC.com for content around 'The Office'--they're not going to go to Facebook first to get that content."

According to the panelists, the recent wave of publisher and advertiser interest in widgets was arguably tied to Facebook's decision to open its platform to developers. "With an app on Facebook, you as an advertiser can build a multipage experience that goes beyond just a widget," said Ro Choy, head of business development, RockYou. "You can create a microsite in a user profile."


The full article can be found at

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=68105&Nid=34724&p=468186

Web 2.0 People in the News

Heavy Lands Another Biggie

by Tanya Irwin, Monday, Sep 10, 2007 6:00 AM ET

HEAVY.COM IS ON A ROLL for nabbing new top executives. In another coup for the online video service, Eric Hadley is leaving Microsoft Corp. to join Heavy as chief marketing officer, Online Media Daily has learned. He will join Todd Sloan, who left NetRatings last week to be Heavy's new CFO (see Online Media Daily, Sept. 6, 2007).

Online Video Information and Resources

Sept 10, 2007

Online Video Viewers Looking For News Clips

A new study by Advertising.com, Inc., reports that that the majority of consumers are viewing video online, at 62 percent of survey respondents. These viewers are not just young adults viewing user-generated videos, says the report, but, in fact, 69 percent are ages 35 and older with a preference for viewing news clips online.

Gizmoz.com Avatar TV Campaign

Gizmoz.com Avatars to Star in Taco Bell Ad

by Karl Greenberg, Friday, Sep 7, 2007 6:00 AM ET

TACO BELL HAS CHOSEN THREE fans to star as virtual actors in an ad for "Fourthmeal," the late-night meal between dinner and breakfast, set to debut worldwide during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards on Saturday. The winners were chosen as part of Taco Bell's "TV Me!" contest, in partnership with Gizmoz and MTV. Gizmoz is an online program that enables people to create avatars of themselves. In less than two weeks, consumers created more than 17,000 Gizmoz clips, which were viewed more than 920,000 times. The contest, launched in early July, earned each of the 3-D animated talking actors 30 seconds of air time during MTV's music awards show. Following the debut on the VMAs, the winning auditions can be viewed on tacobell.com. Using Gizmoz.com's photo-realistic avatars, consumers were asked to audition by uploading a digital photograph. The Gizmoz program creates a 3-D lifelike head and personalized body. Consumers could also record their voices for their 15-second, lip-synched audition. Contestants were judged on personality, originality, overall appeal and ability to express themselves. Irvine, Calif.-based Draftfcb created the TV spot, and added the winning avatars into the "World Stops for Fourthmeal" environment. The 15-second spot will run first, followed by the debut of the new spot that includes the three winners. Karl Greenberg can be reached at karl@mediapost.com

Apple Stats

Lots of news big and small from The Steve Jobs Show (NSDQ: AAPL) now underway, including, as anticipated, a touch iPod with WiFi shipping this month-basically an iPhone sans AT&T and the phone, a WiFi Music Store-and, for the traditional content partner surprise, a deal for WiFi downloads with Starbucks (NSDQ: SBUX) complete with Howard Schultz cameo/sales pitch. (Updated: The full video of Jobs' presentation is here.)

The Cliff Notes version of the incredibly detailed Engadget coverage:

-- The Starbucks deal, allowing WiFi access for music downloads, is exclusive with iTunes and rolls out Oct. 2 in NY and Seattle, followed by 350 stores in San Francisco Nov. 7 and eventually to 5,800 WiFi-enabled stores across U.S, most by end of 2008. It will work on iPhone as well as iPod Touch. (Less clear, whether you need a T-Mobile account for the other WiFi features like YouTube, etc.)

-- iPhone: On track to ship 1 millionth unit this month but lowering price of 8GB, which most people want, to $399 from $599. (Sounds like the 4GB may be toast but unsure.) Jobs: "We want to make the iPhone even MORE affordable for even more people."

-- iPod Touch: Same size as iPhone but even thinner, comes in 8GB at $299 and 16G at $399. Includes Safari and 802.11 b/g. Battery life per Jobs: 22 hours audio, 5 hours video playback. Shipping this month.

iTunes stats: Over 600,000,000 million copies distributed. Over 3 billion sings sold. Over 550 shows, over 95 million shows sold. 125,000 podcasts.

-- KT Tunstall as the surprise performer: "It's fantastic that Steve Jobs is making it more fun to pay for music than steal it!"

Update: In an interview with CNBC, Jobs confirmed that the 4GB iPhone was being discontinued. He also said iPhone would launch in some European countries next quarter with Asia 'probably' to follow in 2008.

-- Some had hoped for the Beatles' announcement today. Jobs: "It's up to Apple Corps. I hope you will see something in the next six months. ... When Apple Corps is ready, we're ready to go.