Archive for July, 2009

Ganging up on Google

After a year-and-a-half courtship, Microsoft and Yahoo announced today a deal that calls for a Bing-powered Yahoo. In a joint statement, the two companies said they’ll join forces so that “advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70% of all search.” (CNNMoney.com pegs it at 65%)

Here’s the 10-year deal (which has yet to clear possible regulator hurdles): Microsoft will fork over to Yahoo 88% of revenue gained from searches on Yahoo sites, while Microsoft gets to use Yahoo search technology in its own search platforms.

Microsoft chief exec Steve Ballmer said the deal allows the software company to “create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company.”

Yahoo chief exec Carol Bartz said she looks forward to her company’s increased focus on its strengths, citing producing niche media sites, marketing and on-line display ads.

Read Write Web thinks, “Bing is a worthy competitor to Google’s search engine, which both Microsoft and Yahoo try not to mention in all their press materials, but whose shadow obviously looms large over this deal. Advertisers aren’t likely to spend a lot of money on a search engine that only commands less than 10% of the market, but once combined with Yahoo Search, Bing could easily reach 20% or more. At this point, advertising on Bing becomes far more interesting.”

This morning on Wall Street, Yahoo shares dropped 11% while Microsoft’s remained flat, reports TechCrunch.

Yahoo and Microsoft begin their honeymoon period with a combined 28% of U.S. search traffic.

Maurice Sendak, Dave Eggers & Spike Jonze talk about Where the Wild Things Are

If I learned anything from my days twittering for The Nerdery it’s that the only thing people seem to love more than Legos is the upcoming film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are.

In this three-minute featurette, Maurice Sendak talks about how his book was not well-received, garnering bad reviews and that it took nearly two years for it to really take off. Then he goes on to say how excited he is about Jonze’s adaptation. He’s not alone.

Apple Tablet coming in September?

You can check the Periodic Table of Nerdery yourself to find all the nerds with the Mac Fanboy badge. There’s a few.

So you can imagine that the news coming out of the Financial Times this morning has a few of us buzzing. They’re reporting that Apple is in talks with record companies to add sleeves, liner notes, and other interactive goodies to digital music downloads.

Why? Because, again, according to the Financial Times:

“The new touch-sensitive device Apple is working on will have a screen that may be up to 10 inches diagonally.

It will connect to the internet like the iPod Touch – probably without phone capability but with access to Apple’s online stores.”

Even more interesting is that Apple is talks with book publishers too which is probably making Kindle owners a little scared.

Gizmodo has a nice mockup of what an Apple Tablet might look like.

Friday Links: Rules for Highly Evolved Humans and stuff marketing people like

• How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans — My favorite part of this piece in Wired is the Rules Torrent at the bottom which includes gems like, CCing your boss after hours doesn’t impress him and never end an email with “take it sleazy.”
• In case you missed this yesterday, Comic Themes for iGoogle. I’m currently rocking the Superman.
• Want to be fashionable at the next Wolf Shirt Friday, try the Three Keyboard Cat Moon shirt from Threadless.
• This ought to be good for some conversation. Do as they say not as they do which starts out with this: “Q. As a general rule, what industry (as a whole) has the worst web sites? A. Ad Agencies.”
• 15 creepiest vintage ads of all time. The French suicide sausage one cracks me up.
• Are you smarter than an ad student?
• Things Marketing People Love like Stuff White People Like, but not.
• Not Sure If You’re Too Drunk to Drive? There’s an App for That.
• Is Twitter a marketing echo chamber? Most days I think yes, yes it is.

MinneADpolis, because people need a little convincing about how awesome Minnesota is

With all the pageantry and controversery surrounding last week’s Pentathanerd, we’ve been remiss in talking about the biggest thing to happen in the local advertising scene this month — the launch of MinneADpolis (does anyone else get that dog’s song “Minneapolis” stuck in their head whenever they read about the new site?). The site is all about pimping how great Minneapolis is to live and work and is a way to lure people to our great cities.

Apparently some people feel a bit of trepidation in calling the land of 10,000 lakes home. Sure, sure I can dig being afraid. It does get cold, but I always like the spin Prince (who is returning home to land the sky blue waters himself) put on it in a 1996 interview with Oprah:

“It’s so cold, it keeps the bad people out,” Prince.

But come on, Minnesota has been a hotbed of creativity forever! Bob Dylan, Prince, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Schulz, The Coen Brothers (”Fargo,” ya know?), Richard Dean Anderson (MacGuyver). . . it’s like there’s something in the water.

At any rate, the site has gotten some great coverage (see: Stuart Elliott’s piece in the NY Times, Twin Cities Business, StarTribune, and a little bit of well-intentioned snark from MetroMag).

So here’s my question, what’s your favorite thing about living in the Twin Cities (aside from the fact that it’s home to The Nerdery)? Mine would probably be The Great Minnesota get together. I love the fair.

Interactive marketing expected to trump traditional advertising by 2014

Everyone who works in the interactive/digital marketing space is sort of fluttery with anticipation and hope today. Why? Because of two studies released this week pointing to a huge increase in the interactive space over the next five years.

First came the Forrester Research that predicts interactive marketing in the US will grow to $55 billion by 2014 and includes this delightful nugget:

Unlike the last recession, digital marketing is no longer experimental. Now it looks more like advertising is inefficient, relative to digital. More than half of the marketers we surveyed said that effectiveness of direct mail, TV, magazines, outdoor, newspapers, and radio would stay the same or decrease within three years. In contrast, well over 70% expected the effectiveness of channels like created social media, online video, and mobile marketing to increase.

Following on the heels of the AdAge comes news from Forbes on Outsell, Inc.’s prediction that $65 billion will shift from traditional advertising to interactive.

Both articles are absolute must-reads for anyone who works in the interactive space — marketer, sales person, designer, developer, executive.

Big Brother is indeed watching

As a full-fledged booknerd, I follow news and views about Amazon’s Kindle pretty closely. The Kindle fascinates me, as do the people who use them. If your nerdly predilections are of a different bent, you might have missed the story about Amazon removing 1984 from user’s Kindles due to some sort of copyright infringement. Of all the books in all of the land to delete, the only one that could me more ironic than George Orwell’s 1984 (which has a lot to do with the government editing the news) would have been Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (about government outlawing books).

But this isn’t about irony. No, this is about the slippery, slide-y ownership issues of electronic files and who gets to control the devices that hold those files.

My mind can’t quite get around the fact that even after someone has purchased a Kindle and purchased a book from Amazon (sure under hinky circumstances but that’s besides the point) that the company can still go into their device and erase that book.

Sure on a rational level it makes sense that Amazon would recall 1984 to avoid a copyright lawsuit, but the fact that they can even do that gives me the creeps. Do consumers really want a company to have that kind of control over their stuff? But more importantly did Kindle users even realize that Amazon had that power?

Yuck.

Can you imagine if Apple exercised the same power over an iPod? I would wager you’d be hard-pressed to find an iPod that didn’t contain an ill-gotten, illegally downloaded song. The outcry if such a thing happened would be deafening.

Pentathanerd: This is the end; Mario Kart & Closing Ceremonies

Sports fans, so far Inside The Nerdery’s exclusive Pentathanerd coverage (more action-packed video below) has largely focused on the individual feats of competitors in the arenas of chess, foosball, Rubix Cube and Boggle. Today we’re reminded that it’s about Team.

However, it’s worth noting that Jessica carried the last day in a big way. For starters, she created a must-see Mario Kart-themed snack table setting; this sent a clear message to opponents that she’d done her homework, and it had to have earned her points with even the casual fans. Then, stepping out of the kitchen and into the driver’s seat, this Danica Patrick of Mario Kart clearly had a capacity crowd on her side as she drove her way to Gold – and gave her Maranerded Chicken team just enough points to overtake The Elder Statesman and win the 2009 Pentathanerd in a photo finish.

2009 Pentathanerd final standings:
Gold Medal – Maranerded Chicken: Chris Black; Kai Esbensen; Jessica Mogen
Silver Medal – The Elder Statesmen: Jeff Klawiter; Luke Bucklin; Mark Seemann
Bronze Medal* – The Perfectonists: Nick LeGuillou; Gillian Reynolds; Justin Hendrickson
Honorable Mention – The Velociraptors: Jansen Price; Matt Tonak; Sai Xiong
Fail Whale Award – Blackberry Fools: Andrew Watson; Jon Rexeisen; Dan Krueger

Most are in agreement with these final standings, but pockets of denial remain as I overhear snippets of Monday-morning quarterbacking and legalese at the Red Bull cooler. Bogglegate was a relatively short-lived controversy that Webster’s dictionary laid to rest just moments after our last dispatch, but Rubixgate remained a sore subject even during Pentathanerd’s otherwise stirring and emotionally gratifying closing ceremony.

Watch and wonder how they did it:

Mario/Pentathanerd Closing Ceremony from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Not enough credit can be given to Pentathanerd Founder Mark Seemann for having the idea and seeing it through. This morning he pinged me with this fun fact: “Among the Pentathanerd 15 competitors, there were 12 developers and three non-developers; note, two non-developers (Kai and Jessica) were on the winning team, and the other non-developer (Luke) was on the second place team…Maybe next time I should set a limit on at ‘most’ one non-developer per team.”

Yes, Pentathanerd fans, he more than hinted at a “next time.” This, too, echoes from his closing remarks: “Just wait until the Winter Games.”

If you someday see such Tomfoolery, you’ll see it right here. Keep watching Inside The Nerdery.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

* (contested)

Pentathanerd: Bogglegate rocks Nerdery

As this edition of Inside The Nerdery went to press there was no official winner of the Boggle competition. Luke Bucklin, representing the Elder Statesman team and looking presidential, is at this moment the unofficial Boggle Gold medalist – but judges are still sifting through long lists of words and – what’s the word for it – nonwords?

Another word you may not have heard of: Bogglegate. Oh yeah.

Boggle results could be headed for a recount and a long legal battle. Some of today’s video was confiscated (I posted what I could salvage below). Many of us have retained our own legal counsel (and private security – a member of the Perfectonist team had kind of a menacing look when they asked me how my family was doing).

But back to Boggle – and at last, a Pentathanerd event competition that doesn’t require standing. (Pentathanerd favors an on-your-toes brand of chess; most Rubix spinners stood upright; and foosball is simply exhausting)

Watch the video as Pentathanerd officials scurry to figure out what it all means. Note the creepy silence as Boggle is played at The Nerdery; it was an unusually polite and reserved crowd until scandal struck again. “Keep the muttering down,” said Kai when he could take the muttering no mas.

Bogglegate rocks Pentathanerd from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

So, how do we wrap this Pentathanerd up?

Usually on Friday’s at 4:30, we all gather for BottleCap Talk (there’s beer) at the ridiculously big screen and we watch one of our web developers show-and-tell about a recent website we’ve launched. It’s equal parts social hour, peer-to-peer education, and Mystery Science Theater.

Instead, today it’s final Pentathanerd event Mario Cart and Pentathanerd Closing Ceremonies. Good seats are still available. I’m told it will be quite moving – not a dry eye in the house. See it here on Monday, and if it leaks out on ESPN over the weekend, just remember that you should have seen it here first.

Keep watching Inside The Nerdery for continuing Pentathanerd/recount coverage.

Silver lining for the Pefectonists: Bogglegate has bumped Rubixgate below the fold in today’s post. Keep those cards and letters coming…

Pentathanerd Cubed: Day 3 – Rubix Cube

“Rubixgate” is what some have dubbed a somewhat controversial Day Three of Pentathanerd, as five competitors squared off to solve the Rubix Cube.

“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” – Vince Lombardi

Judge for yourself, sports fans.

Pentathanerd Cubed from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Congrats to the Rubix Cube medalists: Mark Seemann is Golden; Matt Tonak takes Silver; and Chris Black wins a Bronze medal.

High horse commentary:
As a lifetime sports fan, I thought I’d seen everything when it comes to bending the rules. The New England Patriots gleaned intelligence by secretly recording the practices of other NFL teams. Rosie Ruiz, doused in fake sweat, got off the subway a few blocks from the NY Marathon’s finish line. Back in the good ol’ pre-steroid days, Pete Rose bet on baseball (and several years prior I dressed as him for Halloween; had the hair and everything – he hurt me the most).

Even though Justin had earlier told Inside The Nerdery (see yesterdays report) about his fiendish plot/faux-finished Rubix cube, it was still shocking for this reporter to see him try to put a fast one over on the wide world of sports. Kids look up to their Pentathanerd heroes, and it’s a shame so many of them had to see such a nerdy icon engage in behavior unbefitting of a Pentathanerd competitor. It sets us back as a people.

Should Inside The Nerdery have blown the whistle before he was allowed to “compete” in the Rubix Cube event? Perhaps. However, we made the editorial decision to let it play out. Perhaps he wouldn’t go through with it, we hoped. Perhaps he’d think about the kids. Perhaps history will absolve him.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?