Madison Avenue

Voices

Will Wall Street Quants Corrupt Online Advertising?

George John, CEO, Rocket Fuel Incorporated in Voices on July 22, 2011 at 4:02 pm PT

Recently there’s been some hubbub about advertising becoming too much like Wall Street.

Exclusive: Microsoft Mulls Legally Poking Facebook Over Ad Talent Raid

Kara Swisher in News on March 2, 2011 at 4:10 pm PT

Microsoft–furious over a recent talent grab of its top advertising exec by Facebook–has been considering a wide range of options, including legal action to block the move, according to sources close to the situation. While it might not come to that, tensions between the two companies, who have partnered closely in the past, are running high over the hiring of Carolyn Everson. She had been head of global ad sales at Microsoft and has been hired to be VP of global sales at Facebook.

Exclusive: Facebook Grabs Microsoft Global Ad Head Carolyn Everson

Kara Swisher in News on February 15, 2011 at 4:19 pm PT

Apparently, it’s not only in Google’s pond where Facebook fishes for talent–the social networking giant has recruited Microsoft’s global advertising head Carolyn Everson as one of its top sales execs. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the hiring, after a query by BoomTown. The move will surely cause some tensions with the software giant, which is both a prominent partner of and investor in Facebook, especially since Everson was only hired at Microsoft last June after a long search.

Voices

Hearst Nears iCrossing Pact

Emily Steel and Suzanne Vranica, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on April 19, 2010 at 8:00 am PT

Newspaper-and-magazine publisher Hearst Corp. is near a deal to acquire digital-marketing firm iCrossing, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of how publishers are going head to head with Madison Avenue to grab some of the growing revenues from online advertising.

Voices

Ad Industry Works on Ads About Ads

Emily Steel, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 24, 2009 at 8:11 am PT

Madison Avenue has joined forces with Internet companies in a last-ditch attempt to stop privacy regulations over the $29 billion online-ad industry. The industry is finalizing an ad campaign to educate consumers about how digital advertising works, creating an icon that would appear on Web pages or ads alerting consumers if their activity is being tracked and deploying new technologies to police the Web for illegal activities.

Voices

Cult Musician Mojo Nixon Storms the Web

Sarah McBride, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 22, 2009 at 12:33 pm PT

Cult musician Mojo Nixon hasn’t had a hit in years, but he’s moved over a million songs at Amazon.com so far this month. The artist, who calls his revved-up rockabilly sound “psychobilly,” earlier this year cooked up a scheme to put almost his entire catalog up on Amazon.com, for free.

Good News, T. Rowe Price! Twitter Users Really, Really Love Ads.

Peter Kafka in Media on September 24, 2009 at 12:38 pm PT

Good news (potentially) for T. Rowe Price and the other investors plowing $100 million into the revenue-free start-up: The service’s users absolutely love clicking on ads, says a new study.

MySpace to Hire Media Link (and Millard) to Fix Ad Sales; Berman Out

Kara Swisher in News on August 20, 2009 at 11:26 am PT

In a move that will surely have Madison Avenue talking, well-known online advertising sales executive Wenda Harris Millard–who is now president of New York- and Los Angeles-based media consultancy Media Link–is poised to take over all advertising sales at MySpace, sources said. But, in an unusual twist, the former Yahoo and Martha Stewart exec will remain in her job at Media Link, which has also been hired by MySpace to advise on restructuring the social networking company’s salesforce. Current President of Sales and Marketing Jeff Berman will be leaving the company, MySpace has told employees via an internal memo.

Microsoft on the Hunt for a New Head of World-Wide Online Sales, Even as Yahoo Talks Continue

Kara Swisher in News on April 30, 2009 at 8:01 am PT

Microsoft is searching for a major executive to run its world-wide online sales, said several sources close to the situation, even as talks with Yahoo about a deal to partner in its search and display advertising businesses continue. “They need to find a way to make money in display,” said one source close to the situation. “Or, I guess, find a way to not lose quite so much.” The software giant has been trying to build its online business for many years now, spending a lot of money and not getting very much traction. Meanwhile, the talks Microsoft has been having with Yahoo about outsourcing its online display sales to the Internet giant, among other scenarios, continue.

Facebook: The What-chu-talkin-bout-Willis Ad Conundrum

Kara Swisher in News on November 11, 2008 at 11:58 am PT

The one truly interesting factoid in The Wall Street Journal’s piece about the efficacy (or lack thereof) of Facebook’s engagement ads today was one about its results in the graphical ad business versus rival MySpace. As it turns out, the audience-lagging MySpace smokes Facebook when it comes to selling ads.