Next Month’s Super Bowl Ads, Today

Advertisers are paying more than $3 million to show a 30-second ad during the 49ers-Ravens game. You can see some of them on YouTube now.

Changing Channels: YouTube Will Pull the Plug on at Least 60 Percent of Its Programming Deals

The video giant wants to be more like TV — which means it’s pulling the plug on up to 60 percent of the shows it funded last year.
make it rain

Columbia University Names Sree Sreenivasan Its First Chief Digital Officer

But everyone will still know him as just plain Sree.

Why Rolling Stone’s Cover Won’t Be on an iPad Anytime Soon

I don’t think that gives you much advantage as a magazine reader to read it on the tablet — in fact less so. It’s a little more difficult. From the publisher’s point of view I would think they’re crazy to encourage it.

Digital unenthusiast Jann Wenner, explaining why he’s not rushing to create special versions of his magazines — US Weekly, Men’s Journal and Rolling Stone — for the iPad or any other tablet. Well worth reading the entire interview in AdAge.

Voices

Huffington Post Adds Paid Tweets

Huffington Post is selling advertising space to marketers who weigh in on articles via comments and tweets. The Web site said in AdAge that no advertisers have signed on yet and that it would help them figure out how to best inject their messages into relevant parts of the site. Greg Coleman, HuffPo’s president and a former Yahoo and AOL exec, said a company seeking advertising around the World Series might tweet about baseball, for example.

How to Market an iPhone App: Get Apple to Market Your iPhone App

There are some 85,000 apps available. So how do you get Apple to highlight yours in national TV ads?

Voices

GM Demystifies "What Is 230?" Viral Campaign

General Motors pulled the curtain back on a cryptic marketing campaign, saying Tuesday that its new Chevrolet Volt would get at least 230 miles per gallon when it goes into production next year.

Microsoft Tries to Sell Ad Agency It Never Wanted

Microsoft acquired digital ad agency Razorfish two years ago as part of its $6 billion purchase of parent company aQuantive. The industry has been waiting for Redmond to part ways with the ad shop since then. Now it’s formally on the block: Microsoft has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley to broker a deal.

More Bing For Your Buck: Microsoft Searches For The Right Ad Campaign

You say you’re not convinced by the first TV spot for Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine? Then feast your eyes on these puppies, which AdAge says were supposed to run later this summer but have been moved up because Team Redmond “”realized that the market would be receptive to our product messages sooner than expected.”

Are Those Anti-Apple Microsoft Ads Actually Working?

The Web is full of armchair ad critics, particularly when it comes to spots from Apple and Microsoft. And the usual consensus from the chattering classes: Apple ads goooood. Microsoft ads baaaaaad. But Microsoft’s latest campaign, which features documentary-like tales of youngish people priced out by Apple, may actually be working. At least when it comes to youngish people’s perceptions of the two brands.

Simon Dumenco Saves Beacon's Bacon!