HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

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• As online, targeted advertising becomes more and more common, the question of balancing privacy concerns and commercial demands is becoming increasingly more complex.  While website privacy policies can disclose how information provided to the site’s publisher may be used, they can’t explain how and why you are being shown a specific advertisement when you visit the site.  Joseph Turow, a marketing professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, has developed an approach to provide consumers with more information and control over how they view ads.  Mr. Turow’s plan:  place an icon on Continue Reading »

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• According to a new research study by Nielson Online, social sites like Facebook have surpassed e-mail as the number one online activity, with two-thirds of the world’s population visiting social networking or blogging sites.  What’s more, the “stickiness” of these sites is expanding, with one of every 11 minutes spent online being devoted to social networking activities.  And, in a finding to confirm the frustration and consternation of many teenagers, the fastest growing audience on Facebook is the 35-49 age group.  Which may explain such Facebook groups as “Cool Parents Who Have Facebooks”, although we at digitalhhr can proudly say we have avoided joining that one.) Continue Reading »

There are lots of ways to track our Internet use these days – and its scary to think that each and every piece of information related to such use, including the sites we visit and the products we purchase, are “fair game” for advertisers.  In particular, behavioral targeting, which essentially tracks our use of the web so that advertisers can push ads to us that are specifically tailored to our interests, gives a lot of people pause.  In its recently released report, the FTC made recommendations which seek to balance the potential benefits of behavioral advertising against privacy concerns and encourage privacy protections while maintaining a competitive marketplace.  Continue Reading »

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• E-commerce sites, especially Amazon, the biggest of them all, got some bad news as the New York Supreme Court upheld the validity of a law requiring e-tailers to collect state sales tax. Amazon and Overstock.com sued based on a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that a company had to have a physical presence in the state to collect taxes.  Appeals are likely but for now, it looks likely that sales tax on e-commerce is inevitable.  More information is here.
• A task force has been formed by four Madison Avenue trade groups, with the support of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, to develop industry guidelines for new forms of online behavioral advertising and to lobby the government regulators and policymakers on the benefits to consumers.  The initiative is in response to potential government regulations that would limit new forms of online user targeting.  More details here.
• Reports out of Washington say that Julius Genachowski is being considered to take the chair of the Federal Communications Commission.  Although he was a former general counsel at the FCC and knows the agency well, he is better known as a digital media veteran, a longtime executive at InterActiveCorp and founder of a D.C.-based VC firm which has invested in numerous Web companies.  Here’s a piece from all things digital.com discussing the proposed appointment and industry reaction.
• Two consumer groups are set to appear before the FCC to seek an investigation into mobile ads.  The Center for Digital Democracy and US Public Interest Research Group claim that mobile ad firms don’t fully disclose the extent of the information they collect from consumers.  Here’s an article from the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the debate.

What’s new in digital media?   Subscribe to digitalhhr.com to receive updates of the latest news:

• One report says that ad spending on social networking sites will be lower than expected this year and will remain relatively flat in 2009.  Details from the WSJ are here. 
• The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has released a report entitled “Deception and Distrust:  The Federal Commmunications Commission under Chairman Kevin J. Martin.”  Some of the highlights of the criticism: lax oversight of telecommunciations companies and pushing for revisions to agency reports in a less-than-open fashion.  One caveat:  the report was prepared and released by the majority staff and is not necessarily a consensus view.  Here’s a link.
• Google has reached agreement to bring the magazine archive and current issues online as part of Google Book Search.  Titles involved in the project are a diverse bunch and include New York Magazine, Popular  Mechanics and Ebony.  The announcement was made via this post on Google’s official blog.
• The New York Times takes a look at licensing and other revenue opportunities that are being exploited in virtual worlds.  We’ll be looking at the legal impact that emerging technologies in the virtual space might have on licensing arrangements in the coming weeks.  Check back for the full post.