Reports have shown that subscribers to online streaming services such asNetflix spend less time watching television. In a report by Nielsen, Netflix subscribers watch 11% fewer minutes per day than non-subscribers. Overall television viewing is said to have dropped by 1.9%. Also reported was a 'trend towards the second screen', showing that four in ten smartphone and tablet owners use their devices while watching television. Read the story in full here >> ...
TED talks, a global set of conferences featuring talks from thoughtleaders across an extensive range of topic, has reached one billion views. High-profile speakers have included Al Gore, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Steven Pinker and several Nobel prize winners. To celebrate, TED has posted an interactive timeline of 25 milestones from the past six years, including the first six talks, 1 million facebook fans, and Bill Gates' now infamous stunt in which he released live mosquitoes on his audience. Read in full here >> ...
MTV has become the first company-specific Instagram account to reach onemillion followers, despite only having shared 647 photos since its launch. The account posts images of backstage MTV events, presenters and celebrities. The Facebook-owned photo sharing site celebrated its reaching of 100 million users in April, and has become an increasingly widespread method of real-time mobile photo sharing. The first single user to have reached one million followers was Justin Bieber in March this year. Read the full article here >>...
Jonathan Abrams, founder of social gaming website Friendster, hasacquired $1.7m in funding for Nuzzel, a new social media-based news aggregator. The site has until now been entirely built by Abrams himself, and has been live since September this year. The website acquires data from clicked articles on twitter and other social media sites, as well as those clicked on by users' friends and followers. It includes a 'news you might have missed' feature to broaden topics and subject matter. Abrams' previous venture, Friendster, was launched as a...
Skype has launched a business-specific platform which facilitatesconnections with potential customers, partners and suppliers. The network is already said to have a community of 500 businesses, following a six-month beta trial. The release is based on the education-based Skype in the classroom, released in June, which enables teachers and experts to share knowledge and resources across Skype. Membership to the service is free and can be integrated into users' existing accounts. Read more here >>...
Regulators in the UK will be reviewing Google's filtering of piracy websites, amid concerns that not enough attention is being paid to remove links to pirated material from its search results. Former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has previously threatened Google with forceful legislation to this effect in 2011, but regulators are still concerned with the ineffective methods of removing copyright-infringing material. These concerns are voiced despite the introduction of Google's Pirate Algorithm, an addition to the search algorithm which attempts to lower suspected pirating sites in search results,...
A new-look Google search will be effective across the world, after beinginitially applied to US users' desktops. The design, according to the Google blog, is simpler and cleaner, with more focus given to providing instant answers to web queries. It is based on the new interface that appeared on tablets last year, later extended to mobile phones last month. The tools bar containing options for image, news, and other searches, will now appear underneath the search bar, and buttons will be removed from the sidebar. Read this story...
A survey has revealed that 24% of all search queries on Google are forlocal goods and services. The study, carried out by Chitika Insights, was based on ad impressions from Google, as well as the Bing and Yahoo search engines, in September this year. Both Bing and Yahoo showed a greater proportion of local searches, with over 28% of Bing searches seeking local information. The figures also showed that Bing was the least likely platform to search for local goods and services on mobile devices (...
Figures released by Google show that in 2011 people read an average of10.4 unique pieces of content before making a purchasing decision, highlighting the importance of the brand's message. Paper-converting company Oren International worked with the Content Marketing Institute to undergo a content transformation last month. Considered a traditionally "boring" product, the website now contains extensive content for each product, detailing its work with clients to bring ideas into actualisation. Speaking of the product, the content marketing institute said 'It has a voice and perspective and effectively communicates...
Yahoo and Samsung have announced a joint project that will allow viewersto share reactions to advertisements in real time through Samsung's newest range of smart TVs. Marketers will be able to measure how many viewers click on the advertisements, providing real-time success rates. The initiative comes three years after the launch of Yahoo's Connected TV on-demand service and comes from Samsung's involvement in its conception. Ron Jacoby, VP of Connected TV has said 'CTV is really about making TV better, not replacing the TV experience'. Read the full...