Nielsen has released its annual list of the top ten websites Kiwis visited over the course of December. And while the list was populated by the usual suspects, there were a few surprises in terms of the year-on-year changes for some of the websites.
Browsing: MSN
Following on from last week’s announcement that Yahoo had updated its website with features that allow for greater personalisation, MSN has now similarly given its homepage a facelift. And althought the website has not yet been officially released, Kiwis can catch a glimpse of the changes by visiting the preview site. StopPress takes a look at what the update will offer users and advertisers in the near future.
Taste magazine is following in the footsteps of its Bauer stablemates Cleo and Metro with a new web presence. The new site is set to tap into the growing global hunger for information about food and cooking.
Looking at viewable impressions is a nice thought. But it’s bloody tough to implement and it’s unlikely to make a difference, says Dan Robertson.
MediaWorks TV said goodbye to its director of sales Linda Farrelly earlier this year. And it’s found an able replacement in the form of Liz Fraser, up until recently the general manager of MSN NZ and chair of IAB NZ, who will take on the newly created role of director of sales and marketing.
NZ Lotteries is in the money, Metro announces a new art director and Mi9 names one of its own as sales manager for its new ad network.
On average 115,000 Kiwis use Skype daily, and MSN New Zealand has added the site to its local advertising network, boosting MSN’s audience reach to over 2.3 million New Zealand internet users.
MSN NZ announced a few big changes to its business last year, including the launch of real-time bidding (RTB) system Microsoft Advertising Exchange, something akin to a media stockmarket that allowed advertisers and publishers to buy and sell digital inventory. And the bet seems to have paid off, with MSN reporting significant local uptake of the system and a big recent increase in revenue.
Looking for number-based sneakiness and selective/creative use of statistics comes with the territory in this job. Whenever audience data for magazines, newspapers, radio, TV or online is released, we can generally look forward to a host of releases from proud media owners that, understandably, aim to portray the results in a positive light—and, by extension, portray their competitors in a negative light. And, with the battle for online eyeballs heating up, MSN NZ and Yahoo! NZ are currently engaging in some data-related fisticuffs.
The online realm is a rather fluid and exciting space at the moment. Companies large and small are chopping, changing and innovating in the quest to find the most effective model and close the gap between eyeball numbers and ad dollars. And MSN, with its parent company ninemsn, is set to embark on some big changes, with a new corporate umbrella brand called Mi9 that will encompass all of its brands, new ad exchange technology that basically creates a stock-market for online inventory, an increased focus on behaviourial targeting and a renewed effort to bump up online news numbers with a portal overhaul.
Common sense would have it that, with just about everything moving online, the role of online video advertising too will only get bigger. MSN decided to find out and conducted some modestly sized local industry research, with results indicating that the majority (87 percent) of local agencies are expecting to see bigger online video advertising budgets over the next 12 months.
Like sands through the hourglass, these are the movings/shakings of our lives.
Pfala via Flickr
Stuff.co.nz dominated the digital categories at this year’s Qantas Media Awards and it appears as though the advertisers have responded, with Fairfax Media claiming it has “significantly outperformed the market” in terms of its display advertising revenue, “almost doubling” the 38 percent increase achieved by the market since last quarter. But there are a few Fairfax figures that aren’t quite so forthcoming.
Tasty nuggets of news—now with 10 percent more guarana, taurine and pseudoephedrine.
While the anatomy of TVC and online advertising mediums has been much discussed, a direct comparison of advertiser value is more elusive. But with so much video now consumed online (and online content consumed via TV and other screens) and more advertisers placing TVCs there, directly comparing the value of each medium comes into question. So, which one offers the best bang for buck? And how does one go about comparing value?
This newsy concoction is light and frothy on the nose, with undercurrents of naivete, overcurrents of aniseed, cassis and forest floor and aftercurrents of squash changing room. Can be served either brucewarm or lukewarm.
It wouldn’t be an ‘eggxaggeration’ to say that it’s Easter. And with Easter comes new pagan life, and with new pagan life comes news of various industry happenings about things like Cadbury, The Sweet Shop, Pead PR, Hunter, Top Gear magazine, MSN, APN, DB and Cannes.
January was a record month for MSN.co.nz, with some of its new editorial offerings, particularly its healthy living portal and virtual sports category, bringing in a slew of online punters.
DraftFCB has scooped round two of MSN’s trans-Tasman Butterfly Award, a competition designed to recognise Australasia’s online advertising creativity.
In a win that surprised their own team, Saatchi & Saatchi DGS takes out round one of MSN’s trans-Tasman Butterfly Award for creative online advertising. The winning banner for Westpac delivered on the criteria of powerful brand building, clever integration within a larger mix and creative cut-through.
The Saatchi team …
Not rugby, racing and beer, but babes, Beemers and, er, more babes. That’s according to the stats on MSN’s new NZ Men page.
Launched two weeks ago, the site has notched up 273,779 page views (PVs) and more than 18,000 unique browsers. The most popular slide …