Dutch company VNU, owner of brands like Nielsen Media Research and AC Nielsen and parent company of Adweek, has reached an agreement to acquire US-based IMS Health, the best-known drug market data firm in the country. The merger, for 5.8 billion euros (around seven billion dollars) is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, reports Adweek.
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Yahoo provided a brief glimpse - apparently an unintentional one - into its RSS search efforts on Friday when bloggers found a test Yahoo site for searching RSS feeds, reports PCMag (via MarketingVox). Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion blog featured screenshots (click on adjacent figure) of the site, which was taken down within hours of being found out. Yahoo’s move comes less than a month after its announcement that it is acquiring blog-tracking firm blo.gs and could pose a serious threat for Technorati and Feedster, which concentrate on feed and blog search.
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The WB, with an average age of 35, lost its youngest age crown to UPN, with a median age of 32.9, MediaPost reports. According to a recent study by Magna Global USA, CBS, at 51.8, still has the oldest median age of any of the broadcast networks.
The USPS is updating its Address Element Correction Service on July 17, DM News reports. AEC II aims to fix minor errors in address lists, such as incorrect or transposed letters in a street name, missing directionals and abbreviations that prevent accurate barcoding.
Current electronic success rates average 35 percent to 50 percent of the previously unmatched addresses. Pricing for AEC II will be $15 per 1,000 records submitted, plus 25 cents per record resolved by delivery field personnel.
Ad Company Chitika has a new product that scans Web pages people visit and displays banner ads that are miniature shopping comparison pages, with prices, product reviews and links to merchants, The New York Times reports.
Users can click on different tabs to view various features of a product (see sample) without being driven to another site.
The web is the most consistent factor in purchase influence across ten product categories, according to Doubleclick’s second annual Touchpoints Survey. The survey examined 10 categories, looking at how consumers first learn about products, how they further learn about them, and which factor most influenced their purchase decision. The highly readable study looks at how different media affect potential buyers at the different stages in the buying process.
The categories were: Automotive, consumer electronics, credit cards and banking, home improvement products, investments and mortgages, movies, personal/home care, prescription drugs, telecom services, and travel.
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Missouri has a new law which allows broadcasters to use an 800 number or Internet site to provide the required disclosure information for automotive advertising, according to a story in the Television Business Report. Missouri is the only state with such a law, which applies regardless of whether a dealer advertises in print, broadcast, electronic media, or direct mail.
Major marketers like McDonald’s, Masterfoods, Timex, Coca-Cola, Heineken and Johnson & Johnson are gearing up to launch new mobile phone campaigns this summer, Ad Age reports.
Movie and entertainment marketers have used mobile game, text-messaging, ring tones and wallpapers with success. Now, package-goods and even healthcare marketers are getting in the mix.
Merrill Lynch predicts that leading online retailers will increase sales and marketing spending by an estimated 28 percent this year, while revenues will grow just 24 percent, Media Post reports. The report also estimates that ad spending at Amazon, eBay and Overstock was down in the second quarter while ad spending for online travel increased.
Circle Graphics, a large billboard printer, sold an undisclosed stake to private equity and buyout firm TA Associates. Circle touts its cheap inkjet methods and claims to be the lowest cost producer. The $1.4 billion outdoor media industry - one of the most mature among the media markets - is seeing technology lower costs at a faster rate than most other media, as well as allow for advertisers to enjoy quicker turn-arounds. Terms weren’t disclosed.
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An arbitrator awarded Google rights to several website addresses that are based on typical typographical errors that occur when typing the search engine’s name in a web browser, reports AP. The sites - googkle.com, ghoogle.com and gooigle.com - were being used to install computer viruses and other malicious software on visitors’ computers.
Travelers today rely more on the internet than personal recommendations to gather travel information, according to a poll of 18,000 online consumers in 18 countries, eMarketer reports.
The poll, conducted by market research company GMI, found that people aren’t just searching; they’re booking, as well. Britons, Australians and Americans are among the world’s most satisfied online travelers. Japanese and Polish consumers are the least. One in five Russians, the most skeptical group, say online travel services are not worth it.
Following a recent Clear Channel survey showing that 70 percent of respondents get their concert information online, the company will shift about 25 percent of its marketing budget to the Internet for summer music concerts, thanks to a partnership with Yahoo Music, according to MediaPost.
Yahoo Music will promote 150 of Clear Channel’s concerts, with information about the events available throughout the Yahoo network. Alerts, based on geographic and demographic data, will be sent to Yahoo users to inform them of ticket availability.
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