Microsoft May Share Search Ad Revenue with Users

To put pressure on Google, Microsoft may share some of its online-advertising revenue with consumers who use its search engine - a concept that would alter how the major search engines operate, writes the Wall Street Journal (via marketingVOX). The idea was put forth by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last week in India: “We’ll actually go to users and say instead of us keeping all that ad revenue, we’ll actually share some of it back with the user…[who] essentially will get paid, either money or free content or software things that they wouldn’t get if they didn’t use that search engine.”

Yah.oo.licio.us: Yahoo Plucks Tasty Morsel del.icio.us

Yahoo has bought del.icio.us, which allows users to bookmark, save and share content that they tag with keywords - data that may be of use to improve search results and for ad targeting - though Yahoo says it doesn’t plan, at least for now, to place ads on the site or otherwise use it for anything more than it’s used now, reports ClickZ (via MarketingVOX). The financial terms of the deal were not released. “We don’t really have any monetization plans at this time,” Tim Mayer, director of product management for Yahoo Search, told ClickZ.

CBS Promotes New Show on Water Coolers

AquaCell’s Media subsidiary has received a three-month contract for a new CBS television advertising campaign for the first quarter of 2006. CBS advertised on AquaCell’s water coolers for last September’s launch of Out Of Practice. This time it’s for a new CBS comedy starring Jenna Elfman. Promotion for the new comedy will be featured on water coolers in hundreds of Rite Aid and Duane Reade stores in the New York and Los Angeles areas.

Water cooler ads are gaining in popularity. In a 2005 study of sales of the Dove product Cool Moisture, comparing the outcome at stores that had AquaCell advertising and those that didn’t, Unilever found a 34 percent lift at sites with the ads.

TNS to Track Local Cable TV

TNS Media Intelligence will begin tracking advertising occurrences for local cable television in the San Francisco and Boston markets. According to TNS, this is the first time detailed information on advertising occurrences for local cable television in the U.S. have been tracked.

US Airways Gets New Mag

Pace Communications will produce a US Airways magazine that will replace monthly publications that serviced passengers on US Airways (US Airways’ Attache) and America West (America West) airlines before they merged, Mediaweek reports.

Clear Channel Station Sells Newsroom Naming Rights

A Clear Channel Radio station in Wisconsin has sold the naming rights to its newsroom to a bank, reports the Boston Herald. That means that listeners to WIBA will hear something like, “Now, from the Amcore Bank News Center…” said Jeff Tyler, vp of Clear Channel Radio-Madison, which owns WIBA-AM 1310 and FM 101.5. Last year, Clear Channel Milwaukee station WISN-AM 1130 sold its newsroom naming rights to Pyramax Bank, Tyler said. Pyramax is not allowed to advertise any products during its on-air mention in order to protect the integrity of the news.

EarthLink Launches Video Ads on WaPo Podcasts

EarthLink is launching a series of video advertisements on Washingtonpost.com’s video podcasts. According to Wahingtonpost.com, this is the first time that free, ad supported video podcasts have been available to the marketplace.

Beginning this month, the ads will run as 15-second units that launch prior to the video news content. The advertisements will run on each of the current video podcast segments offered by washingtonpost.com as part of a month-long sponsorship. MediaVest negotiated the deal for EarthLink.

Editor & Publisher reports that Washingtonpost.com now ranks 18th out of the top 100 podcasts downloaded from iTunes, the highest ranking of a podcast from a non-broadcast news entity.

Biz360, Feedster Partner for BlogView

Biz360 and Feedster have announced a new service, BlogView, that will help marketers track blog and wiki content discussions on their company, products, and competitors. The partnership will allow Biz360 to identify and add new blog sources as they appear on the internet. Biz360 currently tracks over 15 million unique sources through Feedster, which has the ability to separate the postings of real value to marketers from fake content sites like spam blogs.

NextMedia to Offer Kmart Advertising

NextMedia Alternative, a division of NextMedia Outdoor, has teamed up with Kmart to install and operate in-store advertising displays in all Kmart stores throughout the U.S. NextMedia will install, manage, and sell advertising in all Kmart stores on its advertising posting, including restrooms, dressing rooms, and baby billboards. NextMedia will also manage integrated marketing programs, utilizing a combination of Kmart’s existing advertising opportunities.

Holiday Classics See Brighter Days among Young Demo

The classic Christmas shows A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have seen revivals this year, Media Life writes. Celebrating their 40th and 41st anniversaries respectively, the two shows had declined in recent years, but last week’s airing of Charlie Brown on ABC averaged its highest rating, at 7.5 among the 2-11 demographic, since it took over from CBS in 2001.