FT Web-based app reaches more than 700,000 users

The Financial Times' Web-based mobile application, which is used to access news and other content, has drawn more than 700,000 users, which makes it more popular than the version sold in Apple's App Store, Reuters reported.

The FT, one of the first major publishers to reduce its dependence on Apple, introduced its HTML5-based mobile application in June. It bypassed the App Store and can be read by any browser.

"People who are using the app are spending much more time with the content," said FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw, pointing out that the new Web-based app was attracting more traffic. "They are consuming about three times as many pages through the app as they are through the desktop in an average visit."

The FT's Web-based mobile app makes up 15 percent of FT.com subscriptions, as well as 20 percent of total FT.com pageviews on mobile, Grimshaw said.

Publishers in the U.S. and Europe have been at odds with Apple over apps, due to its strict policies.

For example, Apple takes a 30 percent share of subscription revenue from those who sign up for apps in the store.

Apple also wants to control subscriber data from people signing up in the store - which are valuable to magazines and newspapers to sell advertising.

Apple did not have a subscription system in place for a while, so the FT was able to sell its app in the company's store, and kept all the revenue and had full control of subscriber data.

However, Apple changed its terms this past summer, claiming that all subscriptions to apps it hosts must go through its own store after it launched its own subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos and music.

Many companies have balked at Apple's terms. The FT took out its iPad and iPhone app from Apple store after failing to reach an agreement with Apple.

"App stores are actually quite strange environments. They are cut off from most of the Web ecosystem," Grimshaw said.

He said that a simple message on the FT's site has been an effective marketing tool.

"The world outside the App Store is not cold and desperate. Discovery is no problem at all," Reuters reported.

Video game advertising continues to boom

Worldwide advertising spending in or around video games is expected to reach $7.2 billion by 2016, up from $3.1 billion this year, according to a new study by DFC Intelligence.

In North America, the figure is predicted to rise from $1 billion in 2010 to $2 billion by 2014.

These ads typically appear within the games as billboards, posters or product placements. Some are in the form of pre-game spots or as games developed by brands themselves, Variety reported.

About 78 percent of game ad revenue will come from advergames or ads wrapped around games in 2016, noted DFC.

According to analysts, in-game advertising is always seen as a growth opportunity. In 2009,Group M expected that the global market to increase to $1 billion by 2014, which has been already overtaken.

For marketers, in-game ads seem to be a great way to target younger males. So it's not surprising that cfast food, soda, snack, apparel and auto companies have taken advantage of the popularity of sports and racing titles.

However, DFC noted that advertising is expected to go broader, as games on Facebook and cellphones draw more attention from casual gamers.

"Video games have reached beyond adolescent males into a mainstream entertainment medium that touches every segment of the population," according to DFC analyst Michael Goodman. "Despite this, advertisers continue to underutilise videogames as an advertising vehicle. This is slowly changing as more games go online."

Image: RebeccaPollard via flickr

Study: Millennials high on digital and social media

Millennials, compared to other generations, have greater awareness of newer, youth-oriented marketing campaigns and more exposure to those through social media, while non-Millennials mainly count on newspapers and direct mail, according to a new study "American Millennials" from Barkley, with Service Management Group and The Boston Consulting Group.

The study found that Millennials watch significantly less live-TV than others – Only 26 percent watch TV for 20 hours or more per week, versus 49 percent of non- Millennials who does so. Instead, Millennials, compared to all other groups, prefer watching shows mainly on their laptops (42 percent versus 18 percent), with DVR (40 percent versus 36 percent), or On-Demand (26 percent versus 18 percent), Media Post reported.

In addition, a third of Millennials like brands more if they use social media, nearly double the percentage of older people who said the same, according to a study by eMarketer. But Millennials were also found less tolerant of social media marketing - over 30 percent said it was annoying for brands to be on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

23.5 percent of Millennials interacted with content from a brand's Facebook page on a daily basis, versus only 17 percent of older adults who did the same. Millennials were also more likely to interact with brand content on Facebook between one and six times per week. In general, older adults were about twice as likely never to engage with brand content on Facebook.

Image: Quang Minh (YILKA) via flickr

Bartz exits as Yahoo CEO

Yahoo confirmed late Tuesday that the board of directors has fired CEO Carol Bartz, whom Timothy Morse will replace as interim CEO, effective immediately, Media Post reported.

“We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders,” according to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock in a statement.

Bartz had struggled with several issues since her tenure in 2009. In terms of U.S. display advertising, Yahoo's share to drop to 13.1 percent this year, down from 14.4 percent in 2010. The overall display ad market, however, is set to increase 24.5 percent from $9.91 billion last year to $12.33 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.

Also, Yahoo's share of U.S. online display ad revenue declined, while competitors, such as Facebook, continue to rise. Facebook's share will reach 17.7 percent this year, up from a 12.2 percent last year, while Google will see its share up to 9.3 percent from 8.6 percent in 2010.

Yahoo also has its search ad revenue in U.S. surpassed by Microsoft for the first time in 2011. Yahoo’s share shrunk to 7.9 percent from 10.7 percent in 2010, while the market leader Google has its share up to 75.9 percent this year, from 73.6 percent in 2010 and 69.8 percent in 2009,according to Marketing Mag.

Image: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

U.S. newspaper ad revenues down to $5.99 billion in 2Q

Total U.S. newspaper advertising revenues, including print and online, dropped 6.9 percent from $6.43 billion in the second quarter of 2010 to $5.99 billion in the same period this year, according to the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America.

It is the 20th quarter in a row to see year-over-year declines in total ad revenue, Media Post reported.

Total print ad revenues declined 8.9 percent from $5.69 billion to $5.19 billion year-over-year, while online advertising grew at a healthy rate, up 8 percent from $744 million to $803 million.

However, online advertising still contributes a relatively modest proportion to all revenues, at 15.5 percent, up from 11.6 percent in the same quarter of 2010. The increase is mostly due to the decrease in total revenues.

As in previous quarters, the downturn was spread quite evenly across the major advertising categories. National advertising was down 8.8 percent to $985 million, retail decreased 8.1 percent to $2.96 billion, and classifieds plunged 10.9 percent to $1.25 billion, Media Post reported.

Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Nielsen: Google leads in unique visitors; Facebook tops in time spent

Nielsen released the first results after its modified "Total Internet Audience" metric, which looks to aggregate usage at home, work and elsewhere.

In terms of unique visitors in July, Google beat Facebook, with 172.5 million and 158.9 million, respectively. Yahoo was on the third with 148.6 million, while MSN/Windows/Bing followed at 131.1 million. YouTube came in the fifth with 126 million, Media Post reported.

Facebook, however, topped other sites in time spent per person, with an average of five hours and 19 minutes. The figure is actually under-reported, said Nielsen, due to an alteration in data gathering.

AOL Media Network came next at two hours and 18 minutes, with Yahoo followed at two hours and 14 minutes. Users of Google sites spent an hour and a half on average, while YouTube users averaged one hour and 39 minutes.

According to Nielsen, the "Total Internet Audience" metric includes in site usage on digital platforms such as mobile devices and tablets, Media Post reported.

Image: Meta Opinions