iTunes: Five billion songs now been downloaded

Apple today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over five billion songs from the iTunes Store.
iTunes is the number one music retailer in the US and features the largest music catalog with over eight million songs. Also, iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, making iTunes the world’s most popular online movie store.

iTunes features movies from all of the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema.
Users can rent movies and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods**, iPhone(TM) and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV. iTunes Store customers can also purchase new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios on the same day as their DVD release.
The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films including over 350 in stunning high definition video.
With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, theability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
*Based on data from market research firm the NPD Group’s MusicWatch survey that captures consumer reported past week unit purchases and counts one CD representing 12 tracks, excluding wireless transactions. The iTunes Store became the largest music retailer in the US based on the amount of music sold during January and February 2008.

Vibrant Media Honors Ask, Microsoft, New Line and Unilever at First Annual Awards Competition for Contextual Advertising

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vibrant Media, the world leading video and contextual advertising network, presented the Vibrant Awards for creative and strategic use of in-text and contextual video advertising tonight in Manhattan. Ask.com took the Gold for its skillful use of contextual advertising incorporating a dynamic API feed. New Line Cinema won the Silver for its cleverly enigmatic video campaign promoting the film "23". Microsoft won the User Engagement Award for the effectiveness of its LiveSearch campaign and Unilever won the Judges Choice Award for its dueling "blonde vs. brunette" campaign to promote Sunsilk's Color Boost. The European Vibrant Awards were held last week in London where Yahoo!, Fiat and Chrysler won the night.
According to Doug Stevenson, Co-founder and CEO of Vibrant Media, "In the eight years since Vibrant was founded, in-text advertising has come of age, and Vibrant has grown exponentially to meet the demand with offices in eight cities in the U.S. and Europe, an audience of 120 million uniques, and a network of over 3,500 publishers. The Vibrant Awards are intended to recognize the growing influence of in-text advertising in the online advertising landscape."
A distinguished panel of industry judges evaluated the nominated campaigns for creativity, word selection and effectiveness in communicating the brand message and meeting campaign objectives. The judges were:
· David Cohen, EVP, US Director of Digital Communications, Universal McCann Interactive
· Sarah Fay, CEO, Aegis, North America
· Mike Hurt, Director of Ad Planning, Microsoft & Co-Chair, IAB Digital Video Committee
· Steve Katelman, Director Strategic Partnerships, OMG
· Brian Morrissey, Digital Editor, Adweek
· Jack Myers, President, Myers Publishing, LLC
Thirty-five other campaigns were evaluated by the judges including Ford Sync, Theraflu, Kraft Oreo and Yellowpages.com.
After reviewing the nominations, UMI's David Cohen noted, "There were some very clever uses of the medium…I was impressed by the quality of the submissions." Sarah Fay, CEO of Aegis North America, commented that the entries highlighted the use of search as a way to customize a video and serve up a message that's specific to the environment.
According to Sean Finnegan, Vibrant's CMO, "Contextual advertising offers the best of all worlds – user control, relevancy, branding, video, and pricing accountability. The campaigns honored tonight reflect some of the smartest, most impactful and creative executions we've seen, and it is our hope that the Vibrant Awards here and in the UK will continue to inspire excellence in years to come."
The recipients of the 2008 Vibrant Awards follow:
Gold Award
The campaign that won the Gold by epitomizing the skillful use of in-text, fully leveraging the format strategically and creatively to engage the consumer and deliver results, is Ask.com. By tapping consumers' insatiable interest in celebrity, Ask.com intercepted users by highlighting celebrity-related words -- like Angelina Jolie, Indiana Jones, NFL, Jay Z, Jennifer Aniston, Mandy Moore, and more – within related content, and provided a dynamic API feed with additional search information. This campaign, which was a unanimous hit among the judges, captured outstanding click through rates across the board.
Silver Award
The campaign that took full advantage of the in-text medium by combining the compelling use of words and video to win the 2008 Silver Vibrant Award was New Line Cinema for the film "23." Using words such as 'DNA' and 'Titanic' to provoke interest in the film, New Line Cinema developed a custom unit that teased viewers with a series of enigmas related to the number 23.
User Engagement Award
Finally, Vibrant's first User Engagement Award was presented to the campaign that was most effective according to Vibrant's own measurement tools. Microsoft wanted to gain market share and establish Live.com as the premier online search engine. Through a custom in-text unit, Microsoft was able to bring Live.com search results into the content and engage users by offering relevant, real time information related to the highlighted word. The Live.com initiative achieved exceptional click-through and user interaction rates. The campaign offered Vibrant's user base a powerful resource, placing convenient search functionality within articles.
Judges Choice Award
This award recognizes a campaign that the judges felt deserved special recognition for its clever approach. The winner of the 2008 Vibrant Judges' Choice Award is Unilever for Sunsilk's Color Boost. Using words and phrases including "confident women," "color boost," "healthy shine," "shampoo," and "hair color," Unilever aimed to increase awareness of Sunsilk's Color Boost. By highlighting the words "blondes" and "brunettes," and creating a virtual duel between them, Unilever delivered sassy video creative that perfectly illustrated the notorious battle between blondes and brunettes.
About Vibrant Media
Headquartered in New York, Vibrant Media is a world leading video and contextual advertising network, giving marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted, user-initiated advertisements within the text of premium Web content. The company works closely with advertisers, agencies and Web publishers to plan, buy, deliver and optimize Vibrant In-Text Advertising campaigns across thousands of websites. Vibrant Video provides measurable brand engagement through the largest pay per click video advertising network. Reaching more than 120 million unique users per month, Vibrant Media manages more than five billion words per month for top advertisers such as Sony, Intel, New Line Cinema, Microsoft and Toyota. The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, London, Paris and Hamburg, with more than 200 employees. The Company's rapid growth has been recognized by both the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 list for two consecutive years. For more information, visit http://www.vibrantmedia.com/.

Possibility of legal bid against Google policy

A number of organisations are reportedly discussing making a legal challenge to Google's pay-per-click policy change.The portal recently made it possible for firms to place paid adverts on the results pages of searches for their competitors' trademarks.Organisations must now bid against each other if more than one firm intends to advertise itself alongside such results.However, Marketing Week reports that a "heavyweight consortium" of firms are now planning to make a legal challenge to the policy.The Association of British Travel Agents told the news source that it had taken part in a meeting to discuss the possibility of a legal confrontation.Furthermore, the publication believes Saga and Lastminute.com attended the discussion.When the policy changes came into play, Tesco called upon its competitors to join it in refusing to bid on others' trademarks, noting that if the sector stood firm then the cost of such advertising would not rise.However, the Birmingham Post recently suggested that while this may work among large businesses, it is likely to be "dog eat dog" among small and medium-sized enterprises.

Other stories we liked

Are you suffering from arthritis? How about arthritus? Arthuritis?
When Arthritis Care, a charity, piloted an online fundraising campaign it wanted to register for pay-per-click advertising, Professional Fundraising (May) reports. Unable to afford to sponsor the 200 different types of arthritis, it decided to hedge its bets on a hunch that most people wouldn't be able to spell the name of the condition properly. The gamble paid off - the misspelling “arthritus” was registered at a cheaper rate and attracted more clicks than rheumatoid or osteoarthritis.
Charities are usually justified in penny-pinching, but medical students are feeling so poor that they have taken to sleeping in tents, says Student BMA News (May). Oh put down the violins - they're simply protesting at the fact that accommodation for junior doctors is no longer free. Hospitals are due to start charging doctors for rooms from August. Matthew Forbes, a final year-student at Sheffield, branded the news that he would have to pay £600 a month to live on site “disgraceful”.
Living under canvas isn't the most luxurious, but spare a thought for children at a PFI school in Exeter plagued by over-heating problems. Devon County Council and its private partner Carillion have tried to cool down the classrooms - without success, Public Private Finance (May) reports. A study looking into the problem has been commissioned and school governors are waiting for a further consultation with the local council. Meanwhile, is it really too much for students to hope that their classrooms will be cool come winter?
Hot or not, it might be in students' interests to put up with classroom conditions - if they want to understand football, that is. Getting to grips with the rules of the beautiful game requires graduate-level skills, while cricket requires “a mere GCSE”, Times Higher Education (May 15) reports. David Beckham, not just a pretty face? Public Agenda remains unconvinced.
It doesn't take an academic degree to work out the meaning of “zero”. Except, perhaps, in the case of zero-carbon homes, where zero may not mean zero after all, Regeneration & Renewal (May 16) reports. Developers say that a new, more “flexible” definition is required if the Government is to meet its ambitious house building target for all new homes to be zero-carbon by 2016, a report from the UK Green Building Council says. “This is not about dumbing down or abandoning the concept of zero carbon,” says Paul King, chief executive, of the UK Green Building Council.
Transport tales of the week
Being stuck in a car for hours may be part of the job for many police officers. But they should beware of alleviating boredom by taking their hands off the wheel - or putting their fingers up their noses. Particularly, it might be improper to release the steering wheel to make a thumbs-up gesture to a speed camera while on an emergency call. Sadly this information didn't reach David Mayes, an officer in South Yorkshire. He's been given an undisclosed fine for the offence, reports The Times (May 16).
And nose-picking is strictly off limits for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, reports Police Review (May 16). “If you're sitting in a car with your finger up your nose, staring off into the distance with your mind in neutral, you are going to miss something and you are not going to be prepared,” says Richard Thompson, the force's chief.
But perhaps long hours in traffic are increasingly likely, given the drubbing that congestion charging took in recent elections. Local Transport Today (May 16) says that a proposed scheme in Manchester hangs in the balance after an anti-congestion charge party unseated its key champion. London's new Mayor, Boris Johnson, also vowed to scrap plans for emissions-based charging.
Foreign Ways
Schoolchildren in Sydney have been threatened with a “yellow card”, meaning a week's suspension, if they don't stop petitioning to get their favourite teacher back, The Daily Telegraph (May 17) in Australia reports. The pint-sized activists at Narraweena Primary School joined their parents to protest for the reinstatement of a popular teacher, Lynne Tziolas, who was suspended by the NSW Department of Education after nude photos of her and husband were published in a magazine section under the title: “Buck naked couples talk about their sex lives.”
Hero ...
When you think of a born leader, does it conjure up images of a tall, handsome and charismatic figure? Well, think again. When it comes to leadership, height isn't everything. Take Napoleon Bonaparte: many historians recount that the great military leader stood just 5ft 2in. And the reality, according to Stephen Taylor, chief executive of the Leadership Centre for Local Government, is that “good leaders are often short, fat people with zero charisma and perhaps even a hygiene problem”, Local Government Chronicle (May 15) reports. We wonder whether the so-called short man syndrome is just a tall story.
... and Villain
James Bond films may not appear to have much impact on everyday life at town halls, but councils are struggling to come to terms with parkour, the free-running craze popularised by Casino Royale. Children & Young People Now (May 14) reports that local authorities want to set up parkour sessions, but youth workers lack qualifications and guidance on leaping over walls or railings. They are also concerned about insurance and that not every street-smart kid wants councils involved. “The whole point is that parkour is slightly anarchic,” says Harry Fowler, joint acting head of youth service at Birmingham City Council.
Other views
“We have now in England an enormous, oppressive and contradictory edifice for school accountability which stifles initiative and creativity in schools.” Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, gives her views on national testing, in Public Finance (May 16)
“We have got more people counting than we have got doing.” The police service is wasting money on bureaucracy and target culture, says Jan Berry, retiring chairman of the Police Federation, in Police Review (May 16)
“If I were a policewoman or a nurse I wouldn't be expected to put up with this treatment.” Teachers draw the short straw when it comes to bullying from service users, says Jennifer Drew, a humanities teacher, in TES Magazine (May 16)
“There is no option of a quick fix.” Alan Johnson MP, the Health Secretary, admits a £6 billion “black hole” in funding for adult social care, reports Community Care (May 15)
“It is clear [that] the Government has bowed to political pressure and chosen a criminal justice rather than a health-focused path.” The reclassification of cannabis will not stop people from taking it, argues Paul Corry, director of public affairs at the mental health charity Rethink, in Community Care (May 15)
“Only fools predict events with certainty.” Barry Quirk, chief executive of the London Borough of Lewisham, says foresight is a science, in The MJ (May 15)

Is this a sustainable model?

After hearing about services like MyScreen and Sugar Mama, I wondered how this model was sustainable. After all, you don’t see many outlets where end users get paid to view advertisements. As with anything this new, I tended to view it through a lens of skepticism. But then I came up with an analogy.
Think about Google’s AdSense program. If you publish on the Internet, you can sign up through them and have them serve ads to your site. When visitors to your site click on those ads, you get paid. Google does the legwork in signing up advertisers and ensuring that their ads are served appropriately.
In the incentive-based model, it seems that the end user replaces the publisher. Instead of serving an ad to a website and paying based on the number of clicks, ads are served right to the mobile user, who are paid just for viewing. MyScreen and Sugar Mama, then act as middlemen, like Google.
Of course, the sting here is that advertisers gain more from the pay per click model. They pay for only people who click the ads, but their message is shown to everyone who visits that publication. So their reach extends further than their payout. Whereas when ads are being served to a mobile user, it is them, and only them, who see the ads.
So I’m still skeptical as to its sustainability, but not as much as I was initially. Really, I’m far more concerned about the privacy issues than the lifespan of the business model.
It sounds good, but beware
It’s easy to get roped into a deal that seems too good to be true. Yes, being paid to view advertising sounds like a great deal, but when it’s at the cost of having your information sold to other advertisers, well, it doesn’t sound so sweet. Now does it?
Still, incentive-based advertising is a young model, and could prove viable as advertisers and network operators search for the best way to deliver advertising over mobile phones. Our cell phones are personal, and we simply won’t tolerate the kind of advertising we see in print and broadcast media.
But if mobile advertising is going to hit us either way, we might as well get something from it. Right?
Posted By : Joe