The Impact of FTC Regulation on Advertising

WebProNews has extensively covered the ongoing saga regarding the FTC and regulation of online advertising. Continuing our coverage, we recently spoke to Jordan Mitchell, the Vice President of Data Intelligence at the Rubicon Project, to catch us up on the latest news around this situation.

Last year, the FTC told the industry that it need to self-regulate. The Commission also said that it would step in with regulation if the industry did not do it on its own.

Many bloggers and others in the industry expressed concern about the potential government intervention since they feared the enforcement of the regulation would be difficult and not done right. Because content has exploded online and has been largely supported by online advertising, Mitchell said many have raised alarm out of fear of innovation being halted.

At this point, the government has been conducting roundtable discussions with publishers and advertisers to try to reach a solution.  In addition, the industry is scrambling to speed up self-regulation.

As for the future implications on online advertising, Mitchell actually sees a positive effect. He believes there will be an increase in targeted ads and the right balance between user transparency and control.

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Technology’s Effect On Interpersonal Relationships

Modern technology may prove distracting on occasion, but at SXSW, a panel agreed that it can help people maintain and build interpersonal connections. One panelist was good enough to talk to WebProNews and explain her ideas on the subject, too.

Jenn Deering Davis, Cofounder of Appozite and CheapTweet Community Manager, observed in an interview with Abby Johnson, “There are all these new tools that can augment our existing relationships.”

In fact, she later added, “I think the biggest thing is to just keep in touch with people and to use all of these tools that we have,” whether your tool of choice is the telephone or something more newfangled like Twitter or Facebook.

The popularity of technology can lead to a difficult sort of balancing act, though. People can spend the majority of their day staring at their cell phones rather than talking to others, and Jenn said, “I think we’re all still figuring out how to manage that and how to best do both, because our face-to-face relationships are important and we want to be here, but we also need to be keeping track of things.”

She then concluded, “We need both. We need the in-person, the face-to-face, and we need the online.”

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Yahoo on Coming Changes to Ad Platform

Google has been the dominant player in search advertising for a long time, but is Yahoo and Microsoft about to shake things up with their joint effort? Only time will tell, but one thing that is certain is that the online marketplace will definitely see many changes in the coming months as Yahoo and Microsoft implement their search agreement.

The advertisers that use Yahoo’s ad platform will soon be migrating to Microsoft’s adCenter. The full transfer is anticipated to take place over the next 24 months and will begin in the U.S.

According to David Pann, Yahoo’s Vice President of Search Advertising, the company hopes to have the U.S. migration completed in time for the holiday season this year. However, if meeting that timeline means sacrificing quality, Pann told WebProNews that Yahoo would simply move the timeline to ensure the highest quality transition.

After the deal is implemented, Microsoft will be in charge of the core advertising platform for both companies, which specifically includes matching, ranking, pricing algorithms, and more. Yahoo, on the other hand, will maintain its responsibility for the consumer experience.

Speaking about the benefits of the deal, Pann said it was a “win” for advertisers, consumers, and publishers.

“It’s really a win for advertisers with a single buy getting access to more inventory, it’s a win for consumers for a greater relevance, and it’s a win for consumers and publishers since they have greater access to a new set of participation and inventory.”

In spite of all the changes the deal will bring for advertising, Pann was quick to say that Yahoo is still innovating and would continue to do so.

Keep watching WebProNews for more on Yahoo’s current innovations as well as information on company’s mobile and real-time efforts.

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Yahoo Details Implementation of Search Deal

Now that Yahoo and Microsoft have been granted regulatory approval for their search deal, what happens now? That is a question that many people in the search industry want answered.

Just for a recap, Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and Yahoo will become the exclusive search advertising provider for Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. Recently, WebProNews had the opportunity to sit down with Shashi Seth, the Senior Vice President of Yahoo Search Products, to learn more about how the alliance between the two companies would be integrated.

First of all, Seth points out that the full integration will take between 18-24 months. As it takes place, he is quick to say that users will continue to receive a compelling search experience from Yahoo that goes beyond the traditional search page.

In spite of the partnership, each engine will maintain its individual areas of focus. For Yahoo specifically, Seth says, “…What our users will continue to find is that not only can they find that great content that resides on [the] Yahoo network on Yahoo Search, but also that we can take people from Yahoo Search to the appropriate properties etc., in the right context…”

According to Seth, users will likely see slight modifications to Yahoo Search over the next several months as the Microsoft integration is completed. However, the companies have not yet decided if they will do a major launch with new features and functionalities.

There are still many questions regarding Yahoo such as the company’s level of commitment to search, implications on advertisers, future innovations, and more.  Keep watching WebProNews for more information on these very issues directly from Yahoo.

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Enjoy Audio with Sennheiser Products

Sennheiser is a brand that is known for its quality microphones, headphones, and wireless transmission systems. The products the company released at CES 2010 proved that it is raising the bar for its audio innovations.

Sennheiser recently partnered with Adidas to produce new sport headphones. The companies took complaints and turned them into solutions to make an athlete’s experience better. According to Eric Palonen of Sennheiser, the headphones sound great, stay in place, and are sweat proof.

Another product Sennheiser displayed at CES was the MM 450, which won a CES Innovation Award. The MM 450 allows users to answer phone calls and listen to music in stereo. In addition, it cancels up to 90 percent of ambient noise, which makes it perfect for a frequent traveler.

For more information on Sennheiser and their products, visit their site.

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