Welcome to the responsive design era. Okay, maybe it’s more like a phase. Or even a blip. Because the mobile web grows fast. Real fast. And responsive web design will be outmoded when either native apps can outdo them, or web apps can deliver a better user experience.
In the meantime, responsive is the way to go. Essentially, it means building your site (or ads within it) so that the layout adapts automatically to the user’s browser and screen resolution.
For example, Engadget.com is a responsive site you might experience in any of three layouts based on your device. The content remains the same, but the format served is automatically determined by your browser width.
Desktop:
Tablet- portrait mode:
Handset:
So why bother building your site in a responsive way? One reason is flexibility. You can maintain ad placements that can fit virtually any screen. With a native app, publishers are confined to ad placements hard coded into the app.
Another is to meet the needs of users who don’t want to bother downloading an app in order to read your news right now. Maybe they reached your website randomly through another app or site, and you want them to stay without forcing them to download your... Read more
Tags: display advertising, mobile advertising, online display ads, responsive ads, tablets
Posted in Ad Serving, Creative Best Practices, Desktop Apps, Websites | 4 Comments »
With this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) now behind us, what were some of the key takeaways?
One of the most interesting occurred before the exhibit halls opened -- the first GDC State of the Industry survey that polled more than 2,500 attendees. The results revealed some intriguing trends in funding, platform preference and publishing models.
For starters, how are developers funding their projects? A few survey numbers:
• 72% are being funded by a company’s existing war chest or an individual’s personal funds
• 9% are from VCs
• 10% are publisher-funded
• 4% are crowdfunded – and 8% of the developers have worked on crowdfunded projects, with another 44% planning to go this route in the future
Indies Rising
The survey also found that 53% of respondents consider themselves ‘indie developers’; 46% are employed at companies of 10 people or less – and only 24% reported they worked with a publisher on their last game.
Platforms
According to survey results, more respondents are developing for smartphones and tablets than for any other platform – 38% released their last game for smartphones and tablets; 55% are making their current games there; 58% will release their next games on these platforms.
Cool Stuff
Survey results aside, there were some cool products to play... Read more
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Desktop Apps, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Opinions, Social Media, Targeting, Websites, Wireless, Word of Mouth | No Comments »
The world of work as we have known it is changing and evolving at an extraordinary pace. The "rules" of the past no longer apply, and new "rules" are being written and rewritten all the time.
Changes can be unsettling, whether they're potential or actual, positive or negative. You may be gearing up for a promotion/new position, staring at a wide-open field of new prospective clients, or launching new products and services. Or you may be hunkering down in the face of outsourcing, downsizing, mergers/consolidations, takeovers, and local or global competition.
Consider the Changes Taking Place at Yahoo!
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has certainly unleashed enormous, untold passions about how, when and where people should work at Yahoo.
The recent, now infamous, change requiring Yahoo employees to work in the office instead of telecommuting from home has been likened to the shot heard round the world.
No less than a great war has ensued and Marissa Mayer has been villainized and vilified by some and verified and validated by others.
It is no secret that Yahoo has been struggling to keep pace with the likes of Apple, Facebook, and Google, all of whom have strong in-office cultures and not coincidentally, strong revenues to match.
In Our Opinion...It’s not about... Read more
Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving, Creative Best Practices, Desktop Apps, Email, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Jobs, Media Planning & Buying, Opinions, Research, Search, Social Media, Targeting, Uncategorized, Video, Web Analytics, Websites, Wireless, Word of Mouth | No Comments »
Brewski. Glass sandwich. Liquid bread. Aiming fluid (when playing darts). Barley pop. The slang words are endless. In plain English – beer.
The amber nectar has been around for thousands of years – ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians were probably the original craft brewers. In fact, in Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet that shows people drinking through reed straws from a communal bowl. Party on!
Fast forward to the 21st Century. While enjoying a beer recently at a San Diego microbrewery, I began to ponder that with so many national and international brands available today, how do these smaller microbreweries rise above the advertising din of giants like Anheuser Busch and Coors and get noticed?
For the past several years -- via social media. From Singapore to Delaware, numerous microbreweries have utilized a wide array of social media platforms, programs, tools, etc., to help with branding and marketing.
So while sitting at home this afternoon with a cold wobbly pop (yes, another beer slang term), I decided to roam around online and check out a few microbreweries that appear to be doing a bang up job at promoting... Read more
Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving, Creative Best Practices, Desktop Apps, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Opinions, Search, Social Media, Targeting, Web Analytics, Websites, Wireless, Word of Mouth | 3 Comments »
According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the Arlington, VA-based trade association that owns and produces International CES, there were more than 156,000 attendees and 3,100 vendors at this year’s show. Depending on the time of day, most of them seemed to be waiting in line for a taxi or monorail. Or ordering a chai latte at Starbucks.
Despite the usual congestion and often daunting logistical challenges of getting from Point A to B at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) or nearby hotels where many companies had suites, there were quite a few interesting trends, along with a gazillion gadgets, gizmos and gewgaws. And in certain areas of the LVCC it seemed like every other booth, suite or kiosk was rolling out yet another line of iPhone/iPad covers and assorted accessories.
A number of companies that debuted on sites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter were showing their wares at CES. CNN reported that one of these interesting prototypes was the HAPIfork produced by Hong Kong-based HAPILABS. The fork keeps track of how many bites of food you ingest – if you eat too fast, you’ll see indicator lights come on that remind you to stop emulating your dog.... Read more
Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving, Creative Best Practices, Desktop Apps, Email, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Opinions, Research, Social Media, Targeting, Websites, Wireless, Word of Mouth | 3 Comments »
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