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In APAC, Media Monitors Group Has A New Name - Sentia Media

The 8th of February 2012 marks the launch of Sentia Media, the new corporate parent for the group of companies previously operating as part of the Media Monitors Group.

Sentia Media CEO John Croll [pictured] said: "Ours is a company with a long and proud history in media monitoring, with a record of industry leadership, providing ever faster and more accurate media information to our clients.

Sentia Media now owns: Media Monitors, the leading media information supplier in the Asia-Pacific with 12 offices across Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore; MediaBanc, South East Asia's largest monitoring company with offices in six countries; Brandtology, one of the world's leading online business intelligence companies, headquartered in Singapore and experiencing exponential growth; 360m, our advisory and analysis company providing research-based insight and unrivalled experience; China Clippings, the leading provider of monitoring services to communications agencies across China; and Slice Media, Australasia's most effective and comprehensive budget monitoring solution.  More...

In US, Growth trend continues for newspaper websites; more visitors stayed longer in Q4 2011 vs. 2010

Average monthly visitor totals exceed 111 million unique visitors in 2011’s final months, the highest-scoring quarter of the year

February 01, 2012. Arlington, Va. – Newspaper websites in the fourth quarter of 2011 averaged more than 111 million monthly unique visitors, an increase of more than 6 million compared with the same period a year ago. The analysis, performed by the Newspaper Association of America based on data provided by comScore, also indicates continuing strong performance in other key engagement and demographic metrics important to advertisers, with 63 percent of all adult Internet users visiting newspaper websites.

“The comScore data for 2011 demonstrate the growing appeal of newspapers’ online content – particularly for engaged, informed and affluent users whom advertisers, especially those buying political advertising in an election year, seek to reach,” said Caroline Little [pictured], NAA president and CEO. “In fact, 70 percent of Internet users with household income above $60,000 are reached by newspaper websites, reach that climbs to 75 percent when looking at household incomes above $100,000.” More...

Measuring Conversion Rate: Are you making an Impact?

Tricia Aanderud [pictured], President at And Data writes: Once you start looking at your Google Analytics, it is thrilling to see that visitors are coming to your humble Web site and some even return. Your first inclination is to create fancy charts to show the traffic patterns, compare the patterns by day of week, segment into New and Returning visitors, soon your charts may even be trending on #StuffDataGeeksDo. More…

In LATAM, comScore Names Country Manager for Argentina and Uruguay

mrweb posts: Digital measurement specialist comScore has appointed Marcos Christensen [pictured], formerly Head of Sales at Fox Sports New Media, as Country Manager for Argentina and Uruguay.

In his new role, Christensen is responsible for new business development and expanding sales of comScore products and services throughout Argentina and Uruguay. More...

In US, the Mobile Marketing Association Makes it Easier to Buy and Sell Mobile Ads for Smartphone and Tablet

Industry-Standard Guidelines for Smart Phones, Feature Phones and Tablets

MMA Will Issue MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package Compliance Stamps to Companies Adopting New Standards

New York, NY (February 8, 2012) — The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading global trade association for the mobile industry, today released an updated version of the MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package. Created with MMA members, with added input from the industry gathered during a public comment period, the new, 2.0 version makes it easier to create, buy and sell mobile ads for smart phones, feature phones and tablets.

“We’ve taken 60-plus ad unit sizes and streamlined them down to just six. That simplicity frees brands and agencies to focus on developing innovative, compelling mobile campaigns that span the widest possible variety of devices and demographics,” said MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart [pictured]. “As a result, the new guidelines make it easier than ever to buy and sell ads for phones and tablets.”  More...

Enter the Dragon – the Marketing Exodus From the U.K. and U.S.?

Jake Langwith [pictured] Head of Digital Marketing at Firebrand Talent writes at ClickZ.asia: One trend that increased throughout 2011 and I predict will increase in the coming year is the move of experienced digital marketers overseas. I’m not talking about relatively short distance moves as in London to Paris, but of people jetting off to long-haul destinations to take up new jobs. So where are some of the best U.K. and U.S. talent heading to? More…

The Death of Google's Urchin Analytics -- And Why We All Should Care

Ryan DeShazer, Vice President, Global Practice Leader – Search at GyroHSR writes at MediaPost: Last week Google officially announced it would be retiring its Urchin Software web analytics technology -- a move that was a long time coming.  Since Google acquired Urchin Software in 2005, it has made significant enhancements to the application’s core functionality.  Focusing primarily on the JavaScript-based version of Urchin, and rebranding it “Google Analytics,” Google evolved the simple on-demand application into the world’s most widely use analytics platform.  More...

In UK, MPG Media Contacts Hires Former Zenith Strategist

mrweb.com reports: In the UK, MPG Media Contacts - which is part of ad and communications services group Havas - has appointed former Zenithoptimedia Head of Strategy Hamid Habib [pictured] to lead its Catalyst division, which combines research, analysis and ‘idea facilitation’.

CEO Marc Mendoza comments: ‘Hamid’s appointment shows how serious we are about investing in our products and services, to become the sort of modern media business our clients need to steer them through the complex media landscape in the coming decade. We loved Hamid’s energy and creativity and see him as a key lynchpin to drive this agenda forward.’ More…

In Moldova, gemiusAudience appointed the official online audience measurement currency

13 February 2012. Gemius, the leading EMEA internet research agency, has been chosen by the Moldavian Joint Industry Committee, BATI, to provide the official web audience audit. The arrival of gemiusAudience in this country is a turning point in the development of the local online market, which now gains an official measurement currency. It is also an important advancement in the research project itself, as with this step gemiusAudience continues its international expansion in 2012.

As Stanislav Popov [pictured, left], the Executive Director at BATI comments: This decision is a crucial one for the market, as it is aimed at decisive internet industry unification and an increase in the online advertising channel profitability. Bearing in mind the significant Gemius experience in providing the highest quality online audience studies throughout Europe and the company's understanding of the CEE region, we are looking forward to our cooperation on the Moldavian market.

We couldn’t be more glad to have signed this contract which shows the great trust that the Moldavian Joint Industry Committee, BATI, has placed in us – Catalin Emilian [pictured, right], Gemius Country Manager for Moldova comments. This decision is also the best proof of the flexibility of our methodology and the insights offered for markets where we conduct gemiusAudience. They are appropriate for both: the highly developed Western markets such as Denmark, and the emerging markets, like Moldova. Personally, I eagerly expect the fast development of the Moldavian online advertising channel, as well as the significant increase of its competitiveness in the region, will greatly benefit from the introduction of the common measurement currency.  More...

Rooting Out Worst Practices

Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics, and Measurement for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, writes at MediaPost :

Welcome to one of our first New Year’s reminders. Perhaps we can make 2012 the year when “Best Practices for Conducting Online Ad Effectiveness Research” become standard operating procedures. And, in a year of action, let’s encourage the vendors to do the research on research that the esteemed Dr. Paul Lavrakas recommended in his 2010 “An Evaluation of Methods Used to Assess the Effectiveness of Advertising on the Internet.”  More...