I’m old enough to remember the first Internet bubble, and lately I’ve been having a feeling of déjà vu. While most entrepreneurs and investors seem more disciplined this time around, there are some worrying signs. They include:
via MediaPost Publications Why We Are And Are Not In A Startup Bubble 04/30/2012.
After its growth slowed in March, it looks like photo-sharing/collecting site Pinterest is actually losing users in April.
Most Pinterest users sign-up to the site using their Facebook accounts, and AppData, which monitors how often users of third-party apps and Web sites interact with Facebook, says the number of Facebook-connected Pinterest users has declined precipitously the past 50 days.
Monthly active users are down from 11.3 million on March 1 to 11.15 million on April 1 to just 8.3 million today.
Here’s a chart showing the 3/21 to 4/20 portion of this 25% decline:
via Pinterest’s Hype Bubble Has Burst, And Now It Is Actually Losing Users – Business Insider.
Interview with Chris Batty (Gawker/TheAtlantic)
Q: Is the banner ad savable?
A: Well if by banner ad you mean a little Flash rectangles at the margin of engagement, I don’t think that’s something of much value, no. But I see a lot of great things happening in display advertising.
After signing on some prominent editorial talent for its planned global business-news site, Atlantic Media has named a publisher to run the effort’s ad sales, marketing and e-commerce: Gawker Media veteran Chris Batty.The site will aim squarely at the editorial turf now owned by such players as The Economist and The Financial Times, but it will differ from many news sites on the ad side. It won’t, for example, sell the standard display-ad units that the online publishing industry has put so much energy into developing. And it will encourage advertisers to talk directly to its audience through sponsored posts, a growing but still atypical approach.”Let’s serve our advertisers’ communications goal as well and not just corral them into banner ads,” said Mr. Batty, who led ad sales at Gawker Media for six years.
via Chris Batty to Run Atlantic Media’s Planned Global Biz Site | MediaWorks – Advertising Age.
For all marketing’s obsession with return on investment, it’s not used to set budgets, according to a new study.
A survey of 243 CMOs and other marketing executives found that 57% don’t establish their budgets according to ROI measures. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they base their budget decisions on historical spending levels, while 28% said they go with gut instinct. And 7% said most of or all their spending decisions aren’t based on any metrics at all.
via Study Finds Marketers Don’t Practice ROI They Preach | CMO Strategy – Advertising Age.
Jason Del Rey for AdAge:
For most of its history, Amazon has banked on knowing consumer-buying habits to fuel its tremendous growth. Jeff Bezos’ company is now using its rich data on those habits to help advertisers all over the web market to the right customers at the right time.The development makes it a potential competitor to internet heavyweights such as Google, which is also selling targeted display ads using audience data. Amazon already sells display advertising and product advertising on its own properties. But its recent hiring of Yahoo ad executive Seth Dallaire to run North American ad sales indicates that the company is getting more serious about pushing deeper into the digital-advertising business.
via Amazon Has Big Ad Plans, But Trading Desks Obstruct | Digital – Advertising Age.
Last April, Gamestop Corp. GME opened a store on Facebook to generate sales among the 3.5 million-plus customers who’d declared themselves “fans” of the video game retailer. Six months later, the store was quietly shuttered.Gamestop has company. Over the past year, Gap Inc., J.C. Penney JCP Co. and Nordstrom JWN Inc. have all opened and closed storefronts on Facebook Inc.’s FB social networking site.Facebook, which this month filed for an initial public offering, has sought to be a top shopping destination for its 845 million members. The stores’ quick failure shows that the Menlo Park, California-based social network doesn’t drive commerce and casts doubt on its value for retailers, said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
via Gamestop to J.C. Penney Shut Facebook Stores: Retail – Bloomberg.
From Janko Roettgers – GigaOM
I noticed an interesting trend at the MusicTech Summit in San Francisco this week: A lot of the talk over lunch and during hallway conversations wasn’t about the next big thing, about fancy Spotify apps or sexy mashups. Instead, people were busy talking about CRMs, CMS platforms and e-commerce.
via The future of music is boring – and that’s exciting! — Tech News and Analysis.
Michelle Obama’s first day on Twitter was the tweet heard ’round the world, with more than 60,000 followers signing up to follow her the morning she launched. Initial tweets from @MichelleObama noted that her staff would be doing the heavy lifting initially, but that every tweet from the First Lady herself would be signed “mo.” It was a nice touch of transparency, creating excitement without over-promising.Mrs. Obama’s fellow Twitter-newbie, Rupert Murdoch, however, is off to a rockier start, or so say numerous critics; Murdoch began his Twitter account to thunderously merciless reviews. Among the complaints, he doesn’t include links in his tweets. His tweets have been called “insipid,” “banal,” and “pedestrian.” Most important: readers say Murdoch’s tweets simply don’t add value for his followers.
via 4 Strategic Requirements For Corporate Tweeting | Fast Company.