Business news with words advertising+technology. 40 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks began the last trading day of the year in the red Monday on what was expected to be a relatively light session ahead of the the New Year's Day holiday. Among bellwether tech stocks, Google Inc. shares fell $4.67 to $697.81 amid a report that the company is in discussions with several newspaper publishers to sell advertising space online. Declines also came from Apple Inc. , Microsoft Corp. , Dell Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. . The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 11 points to 2,663.

The rise of social networks such as Facebook and wireless gadgets such as the iPhone has set off a small stampede of companies hoping to build on or replicate their success. Many are counting on advertising to pay the bills.

At the turn of the century the insurance industry was presented with new technology that would allow their agents and brokers to condense claims processing and other paperwork from the typical 90-120 days to just -- amazingly -- a few hours, potentially saving these companies millions of dollars. But the typical sales cycle for a technology company to sell in their innovation was about 18 months, and in some cases this extended timetable occurred even without any competitors in the picture. I fear we are seeing the same type of scenario in the online advertising world, especially as it relates to the use of video.

Interactive marketing and technology consultancy Ascentium Corp. yesterday announced that it has acquired advertising agency miller.whiterunkle, for an undisclosed amount. The deal deepens Ascentium's creative, interactive marketing and advertising services and further expands its national presence, said the firm's president.

[Packaged Goods] "[Futurist] Alvin Toffler's original view of consumers acting as producers for advertising and marketing has been hijacked, kidnapped and warped," says William Cook, senior vice president/research and standards for the Advertising Research Foundation. "He was dead-on, and technology will propel that vision even farther."

A long simmering battle between TV and the Internet for dominance of the interactive advertising marketplace is coming to a head, and an important player on the TV side just got an important vote of confidence - not to mention a nice cash infusion - from Madison Avenue's biggest buyer of media. GroupM, the unit of WPP Group that oversees media shops like MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom, Maxus, has taken a significant equity stake in Invidi Technologies Corp., one of the leading firms trying to develop an addressable advertising infrastructure for the television business. Precise terms of GroupM's investment were not disclosed, but the Madison Avenue firm was described as the lead investor in the $25 million round of funding, and GroupM CEO Irwin Gotlieb was named a member of Invidi's board of directors. The move comes as an important, but top secret cable industry initiative dubbed "Project Canoe" is poised to announce a technology partner that would create a national infrastructure for buying and selling addressable cable TV advertising on local cable systems that taps the rich consumer return path data stream available in legions of digital set-top devices.

Invidi Technologies, an advertising technology company, said on Thursday it raised $25 million in its latest round of funding, led by advertising holding company WPP Group. WPP division GroupM was joined in the round by investors who also took stakes in previous funding for Invidi, including Menlo Ventures, InterWest Partners and EnerTech Capital. Go to Article from [...]

Shifts in media technology - and the way advertisers and agencies apply it - a reordering in the dominance of global markets, and the volatility of the economy, are all chief issues for the advertising industry, but the No. 1 problem facing Madison Avenue and its clients is "internal communications," Martin Sorrell, chairman-CEO of WPP Group, the largest buyer of media worldwide said Wednesday during a presentation at the UBS media conference in New York.

[Technology] Pacific Gas and Electric Company has unveiled the nation's first solar-powered billboard in San Francisco as part of the utility's new advertising campaign, "We Can Do This." The campaign features information about a variety of programs and services PGandE offers that reflect the company's commitment to the environment.

Facebook, the social networking site, apologised for "mistakes" made in the roll-out of a controversial new advertising system and said it would offer users the ability to opt out of the service altogether

FOR all the questions that surround the future of mobile phone advertising, there is one irrefutable fact: the mobile as a medium has phenomenal reach. In Britain, mobile penetration stands at more than 110% – 1.1 active mobiles per head. In Ireland the figure is similar. Globally, there are 3.3bn mobiles – about half the planet’s population. So it is little wonder the who’s who of advertising is eyeing the market with an increasing tendency for lip licking. Among them is advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP Group – the £7.5bn ($15.4bn, €10.5bn) company he created –

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc is looking to more advertising technology partnerships outside of its proposed purchase of DoubleClick Ltd as it expands beyond Internet search advertising, a top executive said on Tuesday.

[Technology] "The tags can help drive sales for NBC Universal and their clients," says Davina Kent, TiVo's VP of advertising sales. "Bundling the tags with a traditional TV spot buys makes it easier for the advertiser to purchase advertising."

It's hard for me to believe that it has been just over a year since my first Online Spin, which posted on Nov. 14, 2006. It has really been a wild year in the social media and social media advertising space, and in the course of launching a new technology in the space I have had the great fortune of interacting with, working with and even befriending a number of the people on the frontlines of changing the industry. t's been these individuals that have sparked many, if not all, of the Spins over the past year. I wish to extend my most sincere thanks to each of you; you know who you are, thank you. To those I haven't met yet, I look forward to meeting you. I thought I'd take today's post and look back at some of the hot topics of the past year and a few of my personal favorite Spins.

ATandT said Monday it plans to acquire advertising company Ingenio and integrate its technology into the carrier's online Yellow Pages and other services. The acquisition highlights growing interest in mobile advertising by wireless carriers and online companies alike.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- AT&T Inc. said Monday one of its subsidiaries plans to acquire privately held Ingenio, a pay-per-call technology company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The companies expect the deal to close in January. AT&T plans to make Ingenio part of its directory service and local search advertising business.

The online matchmaking industry should be about more than just dating and friendship. We offer a unique Multi-Matchmaking technology that provides a powerful forum for business networking, advertising, employment, friendship, and dating!

[Technology] Some of the top wireless carriers and technology companies are spearheading efforts to increase marketing and advertising through P2P networks. Two services announced at last week's DCIA conference in Hollywood, Calif. reinforce the move by major brands toward marketing and advertising across P2P.

With the commencement on Thursday of a Federal Trade Commission Town Hall meeting, "Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology," The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), two public interest advocacy groups, again asked the FTC to investigate and regulate online marketing. The two groups filed a 74-page supplemental statement that expands upon a complaint filed last year with the FTC about online marketing. Among their more eyebrow-raising claims: Behavioral ad targeting contributes to childhood obesity and it helped bring on the subprime mortgage crisis.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Time Warner Inc. confirmed that it has launched a new system that makes it easier for consumers to opt out of ads that target them based on the sites they visit. AOL announced a new consumer-awareness program that will give consumers enhanced notice and information about behaviorally targeted advertising. The Internet services company said it will improve its current opt-out process through patent-pending technology developed by Tacoda, a behavioral-targeting systems provider it acquired earlier this year. Shares of New York media and entertainment giant Time Warner closed Tuesday at $17.97, down 13 cents.