8 posts and columns on Scott Kurnit

Keep Ads? Crazy. Or, is It?

in News on February 9, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Let’s take the Super Bowl, for example. For many Americans, what happened between the plays was just as entertaining as what happened on the field. Instead of running off for chili and chips, millions of us were glued to the screen to see what America’s great marketers had in store.

How to Open a Beer Bottle With a Magazine. Is That a Web Ad Worth Saving?

in Media on January 4, 2011 at 2:01 pm PT

Web start-up AdKeeper says if advertisers make compelling ads, surfers will want to save them and look at them again. So here’s one worth looking at, at least. But is that enough?

Do You Want To Save Your Web Ads? AdKeeper Bets $35 Million That You Will

in Media on January 2, 2011 at 9:01 pm PT

Oak Investment leads a giant funding round in Scott Kurnit’s new startup, which thinks that Web surfers will stop ignoring ads, and start saving them. If he’s right, it’s a big deal. If not…

Banking on Surfers Saving Ads

in News on October 11, 2010 at 7:59 am PT

Kraft Foods Inc., Unilever PLC and 19 other major marketers have signed up with a new effort to get users to store and revisit ads they see on the Web, rather than ignore them. The new service—from start-up AdKeeper—bills its technology as “bookmarks for banner ads” or “TiVo for advertisements.”

AOL Officially Adds 5Min to Its Roster. Next?

in Media on September 28, 2010 at 6:25 am PT

Here’s the official press release announcing AOL’s acquisition of 5Min Media. Sources familiar with the transaction tell me it’s an all-cash deal at the high end of the $50 million to $65 million range I reported earlier today. So let’s call it $65 million.

Hot Potato Is Ready to Eat: Do Twitter, Facebook Users Want Another Real-Time Chatter Service?

in Media on November 25, 2009 at 7:25 am PT

Last month I told you about Hot Potato, one of the buzziest start-ups in the very buzzy “real time” sector. Now you can check out the service yourself. Or at least you can get a glimpse of it in this video.
hot potato

Sphere Leader Has Exited AOL–But Staying on as "Special" Venture Advisor

in News on November 4, 2009 at 9:30 am PT

Tony Conrad, CEO and co-founder of Sphere–the contextually relevant content engine AOL bought in the spring of 2008 for upward of $25 million–left the Time Warner online unit last month, several sources have told BoomTown in recent weeks. But, in an effort by AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong to hold onto entrepreneurial talent, Conrad has agreed to become “Special Advisor” to its AOL Ventures Unit. Apparently, he is also mulling a new start-up and remains a VC too.
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AOL's Big Give and Whirling Dervish Show!

in News on April 15, 2008 at 3:03 am PT

AOL is turning into the Oprah Winfrey of the digital world, it seems, opening up Time Warner’s (TWX) checkbook to as many start-ups as it can. Last month, it was $850 million in cash for social-networking site Bebo. And, today, it’s a much smaller slug for Sphere, which started as a blog search engine and [...]