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The FTC rejected a complaint filed by Commercial Alert which had urged the government organization to regulate companies engaged in buzz marketing practices.
The FTC’s rejection of the complaint was based on the fact that it believes serious offenses should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, according to MediaPost.
The rejection is a major win for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, which had urged the FTC to make a distinction between buzz marketing and stealth marketing - a practice that WOMMA condemns.
Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA CEO, says the rejection is a major victory for the association. “It says our ethical program is doing the job.” Sernovitz also announced that he will be leaving the association at the end of March.
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
