New device turns public transportation windows into ads by beaming sound into your head

New technology developed by Britain's Sky Go and advertising agency BBDO Dusseldorf can turn vibrating bus and train windows into hi-tech advertisements by beaming sound into commuters' heads. The nefariously clever device is installed on a window, where it releases high-frequency oscillations. The brain then converts those oscillations into sound. Lean your head against the glass, and the window talks to you.

The process is called "bone conduction", which sounds rather ominous. Rightly so. This technology could stop thousands of drained and groggy commuters from dozing on their trips home. Read more >>

Hacked PCs falsify billions of ad clicks

Online investigators have exposed a network of hijacked computers that defrauded advertisers by generating billions of fake ad views. The so-called botnet scheme, which hijacked 120,000 residential PCs in the US and cost advertisers millions of dollars a month, highlights the increasing complexity and opacity of online advertising.

Spider.io, a London-based start-up that tracks web browsing activity, estimates traffic from the “Chameleon” botnet accounted for almost two-thirds of the total visits to certain websites. The inflated number of page views increased advertising revenues for the websites’ owners.

In a report published on Tuesday, Spider.io said the hijacked PCs generated up to 9bn ad views or “impressions” every month across a network of more than 200 sites. Sophisticated software even mimicked cursor movements and mouse clicks, giving the impression that potential consumers were visiting the sites. Read more >>

NY Times Dying a Slow Death

The New York Times reported worse-than-expected results on Thursday as advertisers cut spending on both print and digital outlets, sending shares down 12 percent. The newspaper company said that revenue was up almost 1 percent to $449 million. Still, the result missed the analysts' consensus estimate of $479.23 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Adjusting for severance costs and other special items, the company reported a quarterly loss of 1 cent per share, well below expectations of earnings of 8 cents per share. The slight uptick in revenue was due to a 7.4 percent rise in circulation revenue helped by the company's digital subscription plans.

But as the company tries to rely more on circulation for its revenue, advertising sales are in a persistent slump. "It wasn't a nice quarter on revenue," said Edward Atorino, an analyst with Benchmark Co. "The advertising numbers look terrible. I thought they might do a little better. They are caught up in the downslide like everybody else." Read more >>

NEWSPAPER AD REVENUES COLLAPSE TO 1950 LEVELS

 

There are three important things to keep in mind when looking at this gorgeous graph:

1. The graph is adjusted for inflation.

2. The red line accounts for online ad revenue.

3. The end began with the rise of the online blog.

Read more >>

Two Brothers Patent Toilet Paper Ads

Jordan and Bryan Silverman are offering businesses the chance to advertise on a slightly unusual platform — toilet paper. "It's an unmatched active audience," Jordan, co-founder of Star Toilet Paper, told the Daily News. "A person looks at the average advertisement for two to five seconds. People will look at ours for a lot longer."

The environmentally friendly paper, printed with coupons and ads in soy-bean-based ink, sells for half a cent per ad. Users can redeem the coupons through Star Toilet Paper's website. Venues that want to put in the ad-filled paper in their stalls get the rolls for free. Jordan, a recent graduate of University of Michigan, came up with the innovative marketing plan about two years ago when he found himself taking a minute to look at the wall of a bathroom stall at the Ann Arbor, Mich., campus.

"I was thinking that it's one of the times that people want to read," Jordan, who quickly turned to his brother with the plan, said. "We've really felt that we were on to something." Since then, Jordan, 22, and Bryan, 18, have found that the idea is flush with opportunities. Read more >>

FTC Considers Main Stream Media Bailout as Google prepares to Charge For News

Image via Wikipedia

We will now be charged for the news we subsidize as taxpayers.

Wall Street Journal reports:

The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday the agency will study whether government should aid struggling news organizations, which are suffering from a collapse in advertising revenues as the internet upends their centuries-old business model.

FTC Chairman Jon Liebowitz's comments came during day one of a two-day "workshop" sponsored by the agency that became a forum for arguments among the heads of a diverse array of news organizations over the future of journalism.

Mr. Leibowitz said his agency will examine whether government should change the way the industry is regulated, from making news-gathering companies exempt from antitrust laws to granting them special tax treatment to making changes to copyright laws.

The Federal Communications Commission is already reconsidering rules that prevent a company from owning newspapers and TV stations in a single market.

Mr. Leibowitz said other ideas include extending government subsidies to commercial news organizations, granting them special tax treatment or an exemption from antitrust regulations.

Meanwhile, Skynews reports:

Google is to limit the number of news articles users can read for free on its website. The search engine said it was changing its First Click Free programme so that readers would not be able to look at more than five pages in one day.

The move follows scathing criticism of Google by Rupert Murdoch over the way it provides free access to newspaper articles in his News Corp media group.

Google said users who click on more than five articles in a day may be routed to payment or registration pages

Some users have been able to get around paying subscriptions or registration by accessing news articles through Google.