So use that context to think about this news: Media6Degrees, a behavioral advertising technology start-up, has raised a $17 million funding round led by Menlo Ventures.

Earlier investors U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock, which had helped the 2-year-old company raise another $12 million before the new B round, are re-upping.

The money is targeted for general expansion, not M&A, says CEO Tom Phillips, who joined the company in 2009 after a three-year stint at Google.

Phillips says his company will end up booking $20 million in revenue in 2010. And he says that by Q4 it had ramped up to a $30 million annual run rate–that is, it will do about $7.5 million in the last three months of the year.

Media6 describes what it does as “Social Targeting,” which sounds as if it’s trying to find links between your various social networks. But the company’s work has nothing to do with your Facebook or Twitter profiles. While it doesn’t like the term “behavioral targeting,” that’s essentially what it’s doing.

In a nutshell, Media6 Web marketers track the surfing behavior of their existing customers, then try to find similar behavior patterns–a matching “social signature”–for other surfers, so they can show them ads.

Depending on your perspective, that’s either creepy or a common-sense strategy to help advertisers spend their money more efficiently. If it does weird you out, you can go ahead and opt out. But Phillips and his company would like you to know that the company never tracks individuals–only their anonymized browsers.

Still don’t want any part of this stuff? In theory, companies like Media6 will be in trouble if lots of surfers really do start opting out of data collection. They can do that by telling individual Web sites and ad networks not to track them–or, more ominously, by using browsers with “do not track” filters built into them.

But we’re a very long way from that kind of change. And the start-up’s investors seem to be betting that it’s never going to come.

The way Google (GOOG) handled the Buzz rollout was “irresponsible,” said Harbour. “Google constantly tells the public to ‘just trust us,’” she said. “But based on my observations, I do not believe consumer privacy played any significant role in the release of Buzz….When Gmail users created their accounts, they signed up for e-mail services. Their expectations did not include social networking.”

Indeed, they did not, as evidenced by the breadth and volume of the outcry over the service. And while Google, to its credit, quickly adjusted Buzz to address privacy complaints, the fact that it had to do so at all is cause for concern. Publicly exposing user data first and addressing questions about the exposure later is poor form and sets a lousy precedent.

Said Harbour: “Technology companies are learning harmful lessons from each other’s attempts to stretch the privacy envelop. Even the most respected and popular online companies, those who say they respect privacy, insist on launching products where the guiding privacy policy seems to be, ‘Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.’”

Tough to argue with this given what we saw with Buzz, though I’m sure Google will try. I’ve asked the company for comment and will update here if I hear back.

UPDATE: Google spokesman Brian Richardson just called in with the following statement: “User choice and transparency are top of mind for us. When we realized that we had unintentionally made users unhappy, we worked quickly to make immediate changes.”

[Image credit: Asaf Hanuka, Tropical Toxic]

Google announced plans to buy DoubleClick for $3 billion three years ago and finally closed on the deal a year later. Now the search giant has finally overhauled the display advertising company to its liking. Get ready for big stuff.

That’s the translation behind Google’s announcement this morning that it has upgraded its ad-serving platforms for publishers, by combining two related businesses: Its home-grown Google Ad Manager and Doubleclick’s Dart system.

Google’s statement (full text below) doesn’t have a lot of details, and those that are there won’t mean much if you’re not in the ad tech world.

If you are, the news that Google has fully integrated DoubleClick with its infrastructure will be meaningful because you can expect innovations and features to start rolling out in future weeks and months. Neal Mohan, Google’s VP of product management, says his team has already invested “thousands and thousands of engineering hours” in the upgrade.

In the near term, Google’s announcement also has a direct impact on start-ups like Rubicon and PubMatic, whose core business is built on helping publishers sell their inventory to multiple ad networks.

Google (GOOG) has more or less ignored that business for some time, but now the company is boasting that it can handle those duties in addition to a suite of other services. Translation: That’s a cute business you guys have built over there. We’ll be taking it now.

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence, then, that Rubicon made an oblique announcement last week that was more or less an attack on Google.

Here’s the full text of Google’s announcement:

Google releases its next-generation ad serving platform for publishers

Key points

• Google announces upgraded ad serving platform, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)
• Part of a full suite of products to help publishers maximize online advertising revenues
• New DoubleClick logo unveiled

Today, as part of its efforts to help online publishers maximize advertising revenues from their website content, Google announced its upgraded ad serving platform for publishers–DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP).

DFP is a single platform that upgrades and will replace Google’s existing ad serving products: DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers and Google Ad Manager. The upgraded DFP combines Google’s technology and infrastructure with DoubleClick’s display advertising and ad serving experience.

For larger online publishers, managing, delivering and measuring the performance of ads can be a hugely complicated process. Major online publishers (including social networks, entertainment sites, portals and news sites) use ad serving to manage the complex process of how and when the ads they have sold appear on their websites.

Neal Mohan, Vice President of Product Management at Google, said:

“Google wants to help online publishers make the most money possible from their content. The upgraded DFP is part of our suite of products that are designed to help online publishers maximize their advertising revenues. Ad serving is the machinery that powers the online advertising world, so improving that technology can put a lot of money in publishers’ pockets. This upgraded platform is another major milestone in our continuing investment in the display advertising ecosystem.”

The upgraded DFP is part of Google’s suite of products–also including AdSense and the DoubleClick Ad Exchange–to help online publishers maximize their advertising revenues across all their ad space, whatever their size and however they choose to sell their ad space.

It includes a wide variety of key features that will help enable publishers to get the most value out of their online content:

• A new interface that has been completely redesigned to save time and reduce errors.
• Far more detailed reporting and forecasting data to help publishers understand  where their revenue is coming from and what ads are most valuable.
• Sophisticated algorithms that automatically improve ad performance and delivery.
• A new, open, public API which enables publishers to build and integrate their own apps with DFP, or integrate apps created for DFP by a growing third-party developer community (apps under development today include sales, order management and workflow tools).
• Integration with the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange’s “dynamic allocation” feature, which maximizes revenue by enabling publishers to open up their ad space to bids from multiple ad networks. Dynamic allocation is described in this document [pdf].

DFP comes in two flavors, tailored for different publishers’ needs:

• DFP–for larger online publishers, to which current DART for Publishers customers will be upgraded over the next year.
• DFP Small Business–a simple, free version designed for growing online publishers, to which we will be migrating Google Ad Manager customers.

To reflect Google’s continued investment in DoubleClick’s products and the central role of DoubleClick’s technology products within Google’s display advertising business, Google is also today unveiling some changes to the DoubleClick logos–including typset changes, incorporating a new “by Google” theme, and retiring the “DART” brand.

FriendFinder, a collection of porn sites and niche social networks, was supposed to start trading this week, after filing for a public offering more than a year ago. But this morning, the company pulled its IPO, citing “market conditions.”

I’m assuming this is not a euphemism for the Dow’s plunge yesterday, but instead a polite way of saying “we couldn’t find buyers.” The AP reports that FriendFinder, which was trying to sell some 20 million shares for $10 to $12, sold 15 million shares at $7 each earlier this week in pre-IPO trading.

Now FriendFinder will have to find some other way to resolve its massive debt issues. The company throws off a lot of cash, but all of that–and more–is getting hoovered up by loan payments. It reported $45 million in income from operations in the first nine months of last year and spent $75.3 million on interest payments in the same period.

Meanwhile, if you’re in the market for a high-end sports car, this may be the time to make the FriendFinder team an offer. The company has yet to sell the Ferrari 360 Modena it bought from its founder for $125,000 in 2006. FriendFinder is carrying the car on its books at $95,000, but I’ll bet it’s willing to negotiate.

So if you really want to make a bet on a Webby public offering in the near future, you’re going to have to wager on companies with a…less impressive pedigree. Companies like FriendFinder Networks, which runs a collection of porn sites and niche social networks, or Vringo, which is ostensibly in the ringtone business and wants to raise $64 million to keep going.

UPDATE: Vringo notes that it is only looking to sell $13.8 million worth of shares and warrants in its initial offering, but that conversion of warrants could eventually generate tens of millions more.

How can ringtones still be a business in 2010? For Vringo, they aren’t: The company has been giving them away for free, though it hopes to start selling them soonish.

Better hurry. Vringo has raised $17.5 million since 2006, and has burned through almost all of that. Total revenue so far: $36,000, generated by a partner in Armenia. PaidContent has more details from the S-1.

If you use Twitter.

This morning, Google (GOOG) said it is integrating the microblogging service with Friend Connect, a federated identity platform that allows credentials from social networks to be used on nonsocial sites. So beginning today, you’ll be able log in to any site that supports Google Friend Connect with your Twitter identity, and once you’ve done so, share content from those sites via Twitter (see video below).

An interesting move–more so for timing, than strategy. News of the alliance comes not 24 hours after Yahoo (YHOO) announced the integration of Facebook’s competing identity platform, Facebook Connect, across key properties Mail, News and Finance. Seems Google has no intention of allowing Friend Connect to become for the social Web what Yahoo is to search. Although as Om Malik notes, Google may not have much say in the matter.

“If more and more sites use Facebook Connect, that is use Facebook ID, the closer company gets to becoming the ultimate identity broker of the Web, which in terms helps them achieve their ultimate goal–organize world’s relationships,” Malik writes.

“Since the Yahoo deal will yield more relevant user behavior data,” Malik continues, “Facebook can continue to get better at surfacing information using the social graph. The more Facebook does that, the less important it is for people to continue searching. If the Facebook brain brings you the stuff you’re likely to want (thanks to inputs from your friends), the more Facebook will keep you inside its system. Google is nowhere close to delivering that experience.”

One last point: The announcement of the Google-Twitter and Yahoo-Facebook alliances does not bode well for OpenID, a nonproprietary identity standard that has a lot of industry buy-in but hasn’t yet bee able to move into the mainstream on the Web.

That factoid comes via Web-tracking service comScore (SCOR), which says the two sites accounted for 17.4 percent of the display ads in the U.S. market in July.

News Corp.’s (NWS) MySpace, in the midst of a turnaround effort, has a slight lead over Facebook–9.2 percent of the market versus 8.2 percent. That makes sense since MySpace has always been aggressive about loading up with ads, while Facebook has been fairly reticent, much to the dismay of the “when are you going to monetize?” crowd. (Click table to enlarge.)

That’s something you knew intuitively, of course. But interesting to see it in graphic form.

Another data point you already knew, but may still find worthwhile to see in black and white: Just how small the scraps are for the rest of much of the social network ad world. By comScore’s count, the next eight-biggest social networks command a collective 1.4 percent of the market. (By the way, ever heard of MocoSpace.com before? Do you know anyone who claims to be a user?)

Remember that we’re just talking about overall impressions, not dollars. And ad impressions on social networks are famously cheap, so this stat only tells part of the story. But it’s an important part. It illustrates the potential that the services have, even if they haven’t capitalized on it (not that they haven’t tried).

Meanwhile, here’s a bonus table from comScore laying out the top advertisers on social networks. No surprise to see the likes of AT&T (T) and Sprint (S) here. But perhaps it’s noteworthy that Verizon (VZ), the strongest U.S. telco, spends the least on social media impressions. Meanwhile, social network app makers/services like Zynga are spending heavily.

(News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

On May 13, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing called “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones.” Its purpose: to end the use of rape as a weapon of war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo–a place where 1,100 women a month are raped, in part as a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics–cellphones, laptops. Among those who testified: Eve Ensler, playwright of “The Vagina Monologues” and the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls–and a speaker at D7.

Session Highlights

Live Blog

• Kara Swisher introduces Ensler, describing “The Vagina Monologues” author–with a bit of understatement–as a “strong lady.”
• Kara kicks things off with a stat noting that while many people say they are aware of corporate social responsibility, few people know what it means.
• Ensler describes the history of V-Day, noting that it began as an offshoot of “Vagina Monologues.” While working on that show, she found that many women approached her not to discuss their sex lives, but their experiences with sexual violence.
• Kara asks Ensler to explain the current situation in the Congo. “I think I’ve been to a lot of scary places, but nothing I’ve ever seen compares with the Congo. It is without a doubt the worst place on the planet to be a woman.”
• Ensler says that the coltan trade in the Congo has created a sort of “Blood Diamond” situation there, with militias using violence and rape as a means controlling the trade. She recounts some truly horrific examples of the type of violence against women.
• Kara asks about the link between coltan mining and rape. Ensler explains that militias gain control of the mines by fracturing communities with rape, using sexual violence to control slave labor as well.
• What can companies do to stop such behavior. A boycott, perhaps? Ensler says that’s not a solution. It would only inspire more violence. Awareness is a better option. Companies should make the coltran sourcing transparent. They should put watchdogs and surveyors at the mine sites to prevent rape. They should dedicate more resources to making rape-free products.
• Kara: How do you raise consumer awareness around something that people use every day in Wiis and cellphones, but don’t know about? Ensler says people care about the products they use and that companies might sell more products if they tout them as built from rape-free components. “This is an integrated process.”
• Kara asks about industry cooperation. Ensler says that’s just beginning. Pledges have been made, but there hasn’t been much done beyond that. “The rape and desecration of the Congo is the rape and desecration of all of us….I need companies to say, ‘this matters,’ and to step forward and commit to making rape-free products.”
• Ensler again stresses that boycotts are not a good solution. The area is far too poor, and boycotts would be far too damaging to it.
• What other sorts of technology might be brought to bear here? Ensler notes the difficulty of communicating in the bush and suggests a simple phone that would allow rape victims to apprise others in the area of what’s been done to them.
• Moving on to the Q&A. First questioner asks about ways for the common man/woman to help. Ensler stresses the importance of spreading the word about what’s being done–on blogs, social networks, etc. Again, she says, awareness is key. She notes the differences between the response to what’s going on in the Congo and what happened in Bosnia. The situation in Bosnia was addressed comparatively quickly. What’s been happening in the Congo has been going on for 12 years.
• Questioner notes that simply raising awareness ultimately doesn’t solve the problem. What’s to be done after that? Ensler pitches the same idea of awareness. Only buy a phone if you know it’s rape-free, she says. “I know I’d be willing to pay more for a phone if I knew it was made from materials that were not involved in women being raped.”
• Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, stands up to suggest that these issue are perhaps a bit too complex to be solved by the solution Ensler proposes. Ensler bristles a bit and says it’s not her duty to provide a solution. Its his and the companies he represents.
• Question from Susan Wojcicki at Google (GOOG). Is there an economic opportunity for the region by selling electronic companies rape-free components? Ensler says she believes there is, but someone has to make that happen.
• End of Q&A.

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as we were able. It was not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090527/d7-interview-eve-ensler/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20090507/google-roundtable-schmidt-mayer-drummond-wojcicki/ http://allthingsd.com/20090507/google-roundtable-schmidt-mayer-drummond-wojcicki/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 20:39:36 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=17168

In advance of its shareholder meeting today, Google is holding a press event at its Mountain View, Calif., campus with CEO Eric Schmidt presiding. Also on hand: Dave Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development; Susan Wojcicki, vice president for product management, Kent Walker, general counsel, and Marissa Mayer, vice president, search products and user experience.

Hot topics of the day: Google’s and Apple’s interlocking boards, YouTube and the company’s thoughts on the econalypse, AOL and netbooks.

This liveblog paraphrases most questions and answers. It is not, in other words, a verbatim transcript of the event.

A theme of the meeting is the just-opened inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission into Apple’s and Google’s interlocking boards. Schmidt gets right into the topic with a joke: Looks like we’re at a legal deposition. He adds that he doesn’t believe Google (GOOG) views Apple (AAPL) as a primary competitor. If there are issues that are competitive during a board meeting, he will recuse himself, he says, just as he has regarding the iPhone.

Would Schmidt consider resigning from the Apple board?

Schmidt: “Hasn’t crossed my mind.” Ken Walker adds: “The law is clear that there is safe harbor for companies that don’t have overlapping revenues, and we’re comfortable with that position.”

Regarding the recession, are there any signs that we’re at the bottom?

Schmidt: “We don’t yet see a change.”

As Google gets bigger and faces more antitrust scrutiny, does this change how the company approaches partnerships?

Schmidt: Information is incredibly important, and we should expect governments around the world to pay attention to what we do and hold us to the principles we’ve articulated. Internally we tell our employees to pay attention, there are consequences to mistakes they make.

In the last few years, we’ve worked harder to anticipate the concerns of people affected by the power of the Internet. In my biased judgment, we’re getting better at anticipating those concerns.

We are more careful about when and how we do things that are raising the concerns of any party, but that care doesn’t stop us from doing those things.

Is there anything you haven’t done because of that?

Schmidt: I can’t think of a specific.

What do you think of the long-time monetization potential of social networks?

Susan Wojcicki: “We’ve been learning a lot about monetizing social inventory. And we believe there are ways to monetizie it over time, but those ways are different from search.”

Why did Google decide to sell its stake in AOL?

Schmidt: “We love AOL….We also like money… and look, we sent our best guy over there to run it,” he says referring to Tim Armstrong who recently left Google for AOL.

When will YouTube be profitable?

Schmidt: YouTube will eventually be a successful product and business. We don’t know how long that will take. But YouTube is a huge traffic phenomenon. (Wojicki jumps in to note that that traffic is attracting a lot of advertiser interest, so there is monetization going on. She adds that Google is adding new ad formats to the site, prerolls and click-to-buy ads on music videos.)

How does Google continue innovating given the cost-cutting measures it recently implemented?

Schmidt Innovation is a cultural value at Google, so this hasn’t really been an issue. Cutbacks were more efficiency-related, a move to stay lean but nimble in the midst of a recession.

What’s your take on the balance between Android being an open platform and the trade-offs the company needs to make with handset makers?

Schmidt: “On the one hand, you benefit by having free access; on the other hand there is some sacrifice of stability. We are doing our best to achieve stability without exercising too much control.”

What about China?

Dave Drummond: It’s an “ongoing challenge” to operate there. YouTube is blocked. There is a government preference for local business that makes things very difficult. That said, “we think we’re doing well there.”

Schmidt: “We will continue to do business in China….We would like YouTube unblocked.”

How do you respond to critics who argue that Google is the new Microsoft (MSFT)?

Schmidt: “They obviously don’t remember the old Microsoft.”

In recent public forums you’ve been asked about acquisitions and you’ve said the price isn’t right right now. Has there been any change in that opinion?

Schmidt: No change. There’s simply just not a lot of activity out there now.

What are your thoughts on netbooks?

Schmidt: “The netbook phenomenon looks very real. It looks like it will be a significant element of growth in the PC industry over the next few years.” Schmidt further notes that Google is obviously interested in the market given its business. “Watch the space,” he concludes.

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