New Media Age articles from October 2003

New Media Age archives from October 2003

Media owners blamed for ad count conflicts.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Media owners are holding back the development of online as a mainstream medium by failing to address the problem of discrepancies in ad serving statistics, claims ad industry trade body the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). ...

3 opens network to premium SMS.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Content owners and brands will soon be able to able to target 3's subscriber base as the 3G operator finally opens up to premium SMS, The Sun is the first media owner to go live with a premium SMS service available from a shortcode working...

Operator anti-spam move may double mobile costs.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... A clampdown by mobile operators on cheap offshore SMS delivery routes, forced by rocketing levels of mobile spam, could double the average costs of mobile marketing. Brands. content owners and corporates have benefited from budget rates...

WSJ.com simplifies billing for subscription services.(The Wall Stret Journal Online)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... The Wall Street Journal Online is streamlining its range of paid-for services, charging existing users over and above their annual subscription for access to an extended WSJ archive. The move is designed to create a stronger billing...

Freeview leapfrogs Sky with enhanced BBC radio.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Freeview has stolen a lead over Sky in one area at last, with the BBC this week launching enhanced digital radio services on the platform, something which isn't yet possible on digital satellite. Radio audiences listening via digital...

Sky+ launches site to support ad campaign.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Sky has launched a new Web site to support its soon-to-break multimillion pound national ad campaign pushing the Sky+ set-top box, its personal video recorder capable of pausing live TV. Skyplus.co.uk gives an insight into the theme that's...

MTV reveals plan for CD sales through the red button.(Music Television)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... MTV viewers will be able to buy CDs of their favourite artists via the remote control, while watching their videos, from early next year. The network is in discussions with potential retail partners in the hope of selling albums over iTV in...

Miss Selfridge launches full e-commerce site.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... High street retailer Miss Selfridge has overcome its fear of e-commerce and launched a fully transactional Web site, after facing increasing pressure from online rivals. The site launched on Monday, with a selection of popular ranges in a...

Rugby World Cup to offer subscription-based footage.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... The Rugby World Cup is to try and cash in on the broadband boom by launching a global online subscription service that will enable fans to watch live footage during each match of the six week tournament. Tournament organiser Rugby World Cup...

ITV set for interactive sports betting.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... ITV will have a full interactive TV sports betting service up and running before the end of the year. It's the latest detail to emerge from a wide-ranging deal between Littlewoods and the TV channel, which will also see betting around Pop...

3 launches new content tariffs.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Operator 3 launched a range of new mobile content tariffs on Tuesday. Football 500 includes 500 voice minutes with unlimited football video highlights and text alert. A video-for-voice offer also means all VideoTalk tariffs, including a 15...

DMD launches marketing solutions package.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital communications agency Digital Marketing Direct (DMD) has launched a raft of solutions focusing on specific business requirements, such as generating sales leads and building ROI from regular contact. The agency feels online marketing...

New media agencies invited to enter the Eyeball Rally.(Breaking)
October 2, 2003... New media agencies are being invited to drive as much traffic as possible to a Web site in a month, in a new competition, Eyeball Rally. Entries close on 2 January 2004, with the competition starting two weeks later. Entrants will be allocated...

Judge Dredd gets iTV game.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Judge Dredd has come to iTV for the first time, with the launch of a game featuring the comic book character on iTV portal Play Jam. The Play Jam game backs Vivendi Universal's Judge Dredd: Zombie Invasion PC and console game, due out at the...

O2 adopts rich-media ads to promote rugby sponsorship.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Mobile network O2 is launching a rich-media online ad campaign to promote Its sponsorship of the England rugby team in advance of the World Cup in Australia. Agency Republic's ads include a creative that flips pages upside-down, with the...

Betfair's attempts to enter Australian market in doubt.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Attempts by the UK biggest online betting exchange Betfair to break into the Australian market are up in the air after the minister responsible for online gambling resigned this week. Richard Alston, who was Australia's minister for...

Hyundai launches integrated campaign for supermini Getz.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Hyundai Car has launched an integrated campaign to promote its Getz supermini. Along with the online activity and direct marketing through Carlson Marketing Group, the campaign uses press advertising by Leagas Delaney and point of sale material...

RIAA reaches settlement with 64 individuals over P2P charge.(Recording Industry Association of America )(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has reached 64 settlements with individuals that it accused of illegally distributing copyrighted music over peer-to-peer networks. The announcement comes less than three weeks after the 216...

Fremantle warns free iTV content will damage market.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Fremantle Media, the TV production company behind talent search series Pop idol, has condemned the recent move by Flextech Television to offer interactive TV games licensed from the firm to viewers of its Challenge channel for free. Claire...

UpMyStreet concentrates on selling qeo-targeted ads.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Local information service UpMyStreet is focusing on selling geographically and demographically targeted ad products to a range of clients as part of its bid to break even by the middle of next year. UpMyStreet--which was bought out by...

Big Issue launches online help lists.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... The Big Issue has launched an online self-help service in the form of checklists. BigIssueLists.co.uk provides over a 100 lists to help the public deal with various life decisions, including getting a mortgage or choosing a doctor. Each...

Jigsaw gets into e-tail with Kew.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Clothing company Jigsaw has launched its Kew e-commerce brand and site, which it claims is fully compliant with European accessibility standards. The Kew Web site, first revealed in NMA, went live on Tuesday and will be used to test the...

UK media buyers back off from ads on P2P networks.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... The biggest UK online media buyers are resisting the temptation to advertise on controversial peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks, but that's likely to change as they grow in popularity in Europe. Agencies are avoiding advertising with...

New betting site support charities.(from Gaming Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... A new online casino has launched promising to donate 10% of profits to charity. It's the second charity gambling site to launch in a month. Casinoforcharities.com has been set up by Gaming Corporation, which owns Casino.co.uk. It...

GorillaPark says creditor protection won't hit UK.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Dutch incubator GorillaPark is insisting that its UK operations won't be hit "after it was given protection from its creditors this week. Jerome Mol, founder of GorillaPark, described it as a "technical situation" and said, "Things will go...

Orange drives acquisitions via emails.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Orange is driving customer acquisition through a sequence of targeted email campaigns, a medium proving to be more effective for the task than other channels. The testing began earlier this year in order to find which execution best...

The Winning Line to give gambling advice via SMS.
October 2, 2003... Gambling advice provider The Winning Line, which provides betting information to professional gamblers, has launched a horse racing service via SMS. Available via subscription the service is run by Opera Telecom. operatelecom,com ...

Vodafone and BT Openzone in Wi-Fi network deal.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Vodafone has struck an agreement to provide its subscribers with access to BT's Openzone public Wi-Fi network. Vodafone is introducing its own Wi-Fi service later this year. vodafone.co.uk

3i Group predicts fewer investment failures.(for 2003)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... 3i Group has given a boost to the venture capital sector by saying that far fewer of its investments are likely to fail this year. The investment company said that provisions it's making for its unquoted investments in the six months to 30...

Vodafone and Eidos sign mobile deal for Tomb Raider.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Vodafone and Eidos have signed an exclusive deal for mobile games and content based on Tomb Raider. The series of Tomb Raider games has sold more than 30m units worldwide since the first one came out in 1996. Under the deal, Vodafone has...

UK Online for Business appoints Carlson Marketing.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... UK Online for Business has appointed Carlson Marketing Group, through COI Communications, to create and implement its on and offline marketing. The agency will be responsible for encouraging use of a series of CD-ROMs, publications and online...

Tiscali to hit UK acquisition trail following restructuring.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... ISP Tiscali is preparing to hit the acquisition trail in the UK following a two-year restructuring process. in a bid to increase pressure on rivals BT, AOL and Freeserve. Speaking to NMA this week, Tiscali chief executive Renato Soru said...

MXtelecom latest mobile firm to open in the US.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Wireless aggregator MXtelecom is the latest to join the rush of UK mobile firms launching in the US. The mobile content and services market in the US is on the verge of taking off and UK companies are hoping to leverage their experience in...

MSN lashes out at rivals over chatroom closures.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... MSN has lashed out at rivals who have accused it of shutting down its thousands of chatrooms purely for commercial reasons. The decision to close MSN's chatrooms, announced in NMA last week, created a press and TV furore. Rivals including...

Mirror launches SMS reply channel.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Trinity Mirror Croup is launching an SMS reply channel for all of its columnists across its regional and national titles. The move is one of the first stages of a roll-out of SMS activity across the group's titles, following the integration...

Diary.
October 2, 2003... 6 October 2003 e-Business UK Ayreshire +357 22 849 321 ebusinessuksummit.com New Media Market Summit: Mapping the Future of DDT London 020 7017 5506 informamedia.com/nmmssummit 6-10 October 2003 ...

Betinternet in profit warning despite increased turnover.(Finance)
October 2, 2003... BetInternet has issued a profit warning. Although turnover from football betting has been 34% better than last season, the company said it has suffered from worse than expected margins. Its phone betting arm has also been hit by high level of...

Host Europe remains confident over future sales.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Host Europe, the Internet hosting provider to SMEs, says it's confident that sales will continue to grow through the rest of the year. The firm, which went through a management upheaval earlier in the summer, had turnover of 8.2m [pounds...

Sophos acquires ActiveState for 14m [pounds sterling] in cash.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Sophos, the anti-virus software firm, has acquired ActiveState, a Canadian firm which develops anti-spam software. Both firms concentrate on selling into the business market. UK-based Sophos Is paying $23m (14m [pounds sterling]) in cash and...

Advantage West Midlands hopes to create 1,000 jobs.(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Development agency Advantage West Midlands is hoping to create 1,000 jobs over the next four years by pouring 24m [pounds sterling] into boosting e-business across the region. The project is aimed at raising awareness of the potential of...

Sigma takes aggressive approach to second fund.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Sigma Technology is promising to invest far more aggressively in the future as it prepares to do the first deals from its second fund. The firm, which invests its own money and manages technology investments for others, has seen a marked...

Ordnance Survey troubles force Getmapping off AIM.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital mapping firm Getmapping is retreating from the stock market to save money after trouble on deals with the Ordnance Survey. The company was briefly one of the most high-profile Internet companies on the stock market after the Queen...

Stanford sells off Redbus shares but vows to return.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Cliff Stanford (pictured) has vowed to return to the Internet arena after selling off his shares in Redbus Interhouse. The share sale brings to an end a turbulent time for the firm. Stanford has twice tried to oust the management team of...

Avanti Capital makes pre-tax profit.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Investment company Avanti Capital has made a pre-tax profit for the first time in three years. In the year to the end of June, the private equity firm, which used to be called E-Capital Investments, made a small pre-tax profit of 47,000...

Adobe launches integrated creative suite package.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Adobe has released a Creative Suite that combines new versions of its best-selling Photoshop, InDesign, GoLive and Illustrator applications. The integrated package offers a complete design environment which aims to make it easier to move work...

TBG and TCA select Bluestreak as ad technology provider.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital marketing solutions agency TBG and its client, book club company BCA, have chosen Bluestreak to be their preferred supplier of third-party ad serving and tracking technology. TBG and BCA have jointly awarded Bluestreak the UK business...

Agfa and FAST launch group to fight font piracy.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... An industry group has been launched to raise awareness of text font licences, and take action against infringers. Font designer Agfa Monotype has teamed up with the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) to promote the growing issue of...

Third-party cookie use by banks may endanger users.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Third-party cookies are being used by leading online banks to track visitor behaviour, and could be endangering the privacy and security of customers, according to Web analytics experts. A recent investigation carried out by Web tracking...

MSN integrates avatars into messaging services.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... MSN has tied new avatar technology into Microsoft Passport, aiming to monetise its messaging services. The Weemee avatar software was created by Scottish technology firm Saw-You and has been integrated into MSN Messenger 6.0. The Weemee...

BT opens Wi-Fi network to wholesale.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... BT has opened up its Wi-Fi network to wholesalers so service providers can use its wireless access points located throughout the UK. BT Openzone offers data speeds of 500Kbps and will let customers of mobile operators, ISPs, fixed-line...

Motorola creates wireless adapter for Nintendo titles.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Motorola has developed a wireless adapter accessory for use with Nintendo's mobile games consoles the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP. The firm is supplying chips that will allow up to five players to play against each other...

Blumedia designs 10th anniversary site for Bar Rumba.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital media agency Blumedia has designed and produced Bar Rumba's Web site as part of the bar's 10th anniversary celebrations. The site uses streaming video from inside the club and streaming MP3s. It also features an interactive gaming area...

Holler redesigns Aerodeon's site to grow client list.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital design agency Holler is working on the redesign of mobile firm Aerodeon's Web site. Aerodeon.com is undergoing an overhaul which will enable it to be updated more quickly as well as reflecting the company's global growth and growing...

New Media Maze.(Agency Wins)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Interactive marketing consultancy New Media Maze has signed a consultancy agreement with US-based games publisher Acclaim Entertainment in the UK. The deal will see New Media Maze developing an ongoing CRM program for Acclaim to be used for...

Torchbox.(Agency Wins)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital media agency Torchbox has won the contract to develop a third generation Web site for The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The new site will provide increased access to information and...

Lawton links with MPP to monetise email content.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital marketing agency Lawton eMarketing is teaming up with e-payment solutions provider MPP Global Solution in a partnership which will help see the agency's customers provided with micropayment solutions. The partnership marks the...

Steve Barton joins board of DLKW dialogue as CEO.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Digital marketing agency DLKW Dialogue has bolstered its management structure with the addition of a CEO to the board. Former CEO of Leonardo and founding partner of Jones Mason Barton Antenen, Steve Barton has taken the role of CEO at DLKW...

Unique Digital appoints Paul Simons.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Independent digital marketing agency Unique Digital has appointed Paul Simons as non-executive chairman. Simons is a former chairman and CEO of the Ogilvy Group and TBWA/Simons Palmer. He will oversee the strategic development and...

Design UK gives boost to image with rebrand.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Design and build agency Design UK is rebranding to revitalise its image, and at the same time is planning to double its size. The rebranding and repositioning has taken the agency a couple of months and it's now finalising the creative part...

Samsung targets particular music lovers with P400 ads.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Mobile phone manufacturer Samsung is launching a highly targeted online ad and promotional push for its P400 Camera Phone. Media agency Initiative Media says that the campaign, running for a month until 20 October, aims to reach music...

BA steps up focus on online marketing.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... British Airways is increasing its emphasis on online marketing in its latest pan-European campaign. Of the 10m [pounds sterling] campaign, which uses the strapline 'London is closer than you think', 15% of the budget has been allocated to...

Standard Life launches Freestyle mortgage microsite.(Marketing; hateyourmortgage.co.uk)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Standard Life Bank has launched a microsite to sell its Freestyle mortgage product. Agency DNA has created hateyourmortgage.co.uk, inspired by research showing 85% of people want to get rid of their mortgages. It's the first in a...

IPT to aid Harris move into UK with opinion panel.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... US market research firm Harris Interactive is extending operations into the UK through a deal with digital direct marketing firm IPT. IPT's My Offers is to build the Harris Interactive Europe Opinion Panel via questionnaires linked to prize...

AffiliateFuture launches commission-based shop search.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... IBG's AffiliateFuture has launched a shopping search engine which media owners can put on their sites to earn commission from e-tailers. CEO of Internet Business Group (IBG), Maz Darvish, said the product would help media owners who get...

Friday-Ad updates interface.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Friday-Ad's Web site has launched an updated version of its interface for display advertisers. The interface lets advertisers place ads in any of the 62 local print editions and on the site. It also lets them control how long the ad will run,...

TravelSupermarket to offer sponsored links with results.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Newly launched travel comparison site TravelSupermarket is to offer a list of sponsored links alongside results. TravelSupermarket, a spin-off of MoneySupermarket, will charge advertisers a fixed fee for the product. List ranking won't be...

Just one in 10 users fill in tax return form online.(Trends)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Only 10% of Internet users have filled in their self-assessment tax forms online, despite the impending 30 September deadline for getting the forms to the Inland Revenue, UKNetGuide surveyed over 200 Internet users and found that while 80% were...

MDA reports 55m text messages sent in August.(Trends)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Text messaging is continuing to boom in the UK, with August's figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA) showing that over 55m messages were sent each day across all four GSM Networks, This compares to 45m a day in August 2002 and 34m in...

SMEs failing to protect themselves from viruses.(Trends)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... SMEs are at severe risk from virus attacks because a third of them don't have any protection. Antivirus software specialist Panda Software polled over 1,500 small and medium-sized companies and found that 38% felt there was no need to get...

UK firms ignore new email law.(Trends)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Only half of UK businesses are aware that email marketing providers will be subject to new legislation as of this month, Database provider Harte-Hanks, MMS firm Xpedite and law firm Osborne Clarke surveyed over 250 companies and found that...

Freeview helps switch on older viewers to digital TV.(Trends)(Industry Overview)
October 2, 2003... Older citizens are finally starting to buy digital TV set-top boxes, contributing to the recent boom in the take-up of digital TV. Continental Research's latest study of multi-channel TV has found that digital TV is now being taken up...

Incumbent telcos dominate broadband.(Trends)(Industry Overview)
October 2, 2003... Incumbent telecom companies across Europe continue to dominate broadband connections, despite the rapid take up of high speed access in recent months. According to the latest findings from the European Competitive Telecommunications...

US consumers come around to idea of having to pay for online content.(according to Online P{Publishers Association)
October 2, 2003... US consumers are increasingly prepared to pay for online content, according to latest research from the Online Publishers Association. Consumer spending on paid-for content in the US grew by 23% in the first half of 2003 compared with the...

Mobile saturation leads to higher churn.(Analyst Speak)(Industry Overview)
October 2, 2003... Mobile penetration now stands at 72% of adults aged 15 and over. However, while growth in mobile ownership has slowed in recent years as saturation point has been reached, the penetration of advanced mobile features has been growing sharply...

Portals condemn MSN over chatroom closures: whether for social or commercial reasons, MSN's move to close its UK chatrooms has certainly shocked and upset its rivals.(Analysis)
October 2, 2003... MSN's announcement last week that it will pull the plug on its thousands of chatrooms in the UK later this month has attracted fierce attacks from the industry. While leading children's charities, and even Carol Vorderman, have praised the...

MSN move highlights new role of multinationals.(Leader)
October 2, 2003... The furore that has broken out following MSN's decision to shut its chat rooms should have surprised no one, least of all MSN itself. Any story that includes both paedophiles and the world's largest software company is always going to be big...

Giving the viewers what they want.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
October 2, 2003... Scott Gronmark, head of interactive TV, BBCi Feedback on our interactive services is always welcome, but Justin Judd's comments on BBCi's interactive TV services (Programme Review, NMA/iTV, Autumn 2003) should be put into context. The...

Don't rely on law to beat spammers.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
October 2, 2003... Pamir Gelenbe, co-founder and director of corporate business development, Flytxt Protecting mobile marketing from the negative impact of spare has, until now, been reliant on the players' responsibility to self-regulate the industry. The...

E-commerce truly shakes up traditional retailing.(Mitchell on marketing)(Industry Overview)
October 2, 2003... Better late than never. Many years ago the dotcom gurus told us that e-commerce would shake traditional retailing to its foundations thanks to a pincer movement of powerful forces. By breaking free of the physical constraints of the store,...

Here is the news ... and here, and here.(Opinion)
October 2, 2003... Remember those dot-com boom presentations? You were told your fridge would be automatically reordering your food, your rail tickets and reminding you it's time for a hair-cut. It was all so exciting and enticing at the time. When a wealthy...

Everything to play for: learning from the mistakes of Sports.com, Paul Wright has found greater success with Aura Sports. Now, with his sights set on Euro 2004, there's a busy time ahead for the sports sales house.
October 2, 2003... Profile Ben Carter Portrait Alex Segre Paul Wright will never forget 31 May 2002. Not because he's a Senegal fan and was celebrating the tiny African nation's crushing of France in the World Cup, but because it was the day his world...

Eyeconomy.(Moves)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Media planning/buying agency Eyeconomy has taken on Neil Stewart as account manager to work on Subsites.co.uk, the company's online ad solution. He joins from email marketing company The Mutual, and prior to this worked at Moneyextra.com.

Digital Impact.(Moves)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Email marketing firm Digital Impact has promoted Skip Fidura to director of European Operations. He was previously head of European client services, and takes overall responsibility for the company in Europe.

Kelkoo.(Moves)(Brief Article)
October 2, 2003... Bruce Fair joins shopping search engine Kelkoo as head of direct sales. He brings three years' e-commerce experience to the position, having focused on the retail sector while working at online measurement company Hitwise.