Social ad startup Meteor Solutions acquired by Covario

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Meteor Solutions, a social advertising and marketing startup led by Ben Straley, has been acquired by Covario in a deal of undisclosed size. All 10 of Meteor Solutions’ employees will receive job offers to join Covario’s new Rio SEO unit as part of the deal. And Meteor, which was founded in 2009 by Straley, will retain its… Read More…

Ad startup PaperG picks Kirkland for new engineering center

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The Seattle area has a rich history of online advertising upstarts, stretching back to the early days of industry pioneer aQuantive. Now, a San Francisco company is moving into town to mine some of that talent. PaperG, which has developed a way to build local ad campaigns in 60-seconds or less, has opened a new… Read More…

Marchex to split in two, form new ad and domain marketplace Archeo

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The name Archeo is derived from the Greek word “arche” — meaning beginning. And that’s exactly what’s happening with Seattle-based online advertising company Marchex — a new beginning. The 9-year-old company is announcing today that its board has authorized a plan to split into two separate public companies, one operating under the name of Marchex… Read More…

Härnu lets you discuss global events with people from around the world

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The world is becoming a smaller place, yet even with communications and social media technologies you can still feel cut off from the experiences, fears and desires of those living in far-flung places. Härnu, a six-month-old Seattle startup led by former employees of aQuantive, DS-IQ and StartupRocket, are looking to bring people closer together through… Read More…

First Windows 8 ad touts ‘reimagined’ operating system, focuses on touch

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With the release of Windows 8 now less than two weeks away, Microsoft is giving the first glimpse of the approach it will take to market the new operating system — the first wave in an unprecedented advertising blitz that will accompany new products from the company for the holiday season. The Windows team posted… Read More…

Mobile ad revenues nearly double in first half of 2012

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Make no doubt about it, mobile advertising is here to stay. The latest report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau showed that mobile advertising topped $1.2 billion during the first half of 2012, nearly double the amount spent during the same period last year. “The tremendous growth of mobile advertising revenue over the past year is an… Read More…

Amazon opens up about wide-scale advertising strategies

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Until now, Amazon’s advertising efforts have been relatively low key. It looks like that’s all about to change. Amazon opened up the curtains on its advertising initiatives at the annual Advertising Week and Ad Age spoke with Amazon’s global head of advertising, Lisa Utzschneider, to discuss the company’s new wide-scale advertising strategies. Amazon has some serious plans… Read More…

Ad-supported Internet firms responsible for 5.1M jobs

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A new report out from the Interactive Advertising Bureau shows that the ad-supported Internet business now account for 5.1 million jobs in the U.S., more than double the amount from four years ago. The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard University, also found that the industry contributed $530 billion to the U.S. economy last year. That… Read More…

Zillow launches its first-ever TV ad: ‘Find Your Way Home’

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For years, Zillow proudly touted its ability to attract users without doing any sort of advertising. But things change, especially as companies grow. And today Zillow pulled the covers off its first-ever TV advertisement. Dubbed “Find Your Way Home,” the ad is airing nationwide this fall on channels such as HGTV, CNN, ABC Family and Travel… Read More…

Tech Moves: Cheezburger adds AllRecipes vet Dunn as Sawicki changes roles

Todd Sawicki at Ignite. Photo via Randy Stewart

Cheezburger’s Todd Sawicki is transitioning to a new position at the online humor network, taking on the role of vice president of audience. Taking over for Sawicki is newly-appointed chief revenue officer Amber Dunn, a former senior vice president at Seattle-based AllRecipes.com. Dunn will oversee Cheezburger’s advertising sales, marketing and merchandising. Both Sawicki and Dunn… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: MakeGood looks to help firms make sense of online ad campaigns

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The world of online advertising can be convoluted and complex, making it challenging for advertisers, agencies and publishers to track campaigns. MakeGood Software, a three-year-old startup located in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, is looking to help companies make better sense of the data and eliminate bulky spreadsheets in the process. The 4-person online data management startup launched… Read More…

Shares of Blucora soar 26 percent after big gains in Internet search revenue

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Shares of Blucora skyrocketed more than 26 percent on Friday after the Bellevue Internet search and tax software company formerly known as InfoSpace posted strong earnings. The stock was trading at $16.13, a 7-year high according to Investor’s Business Daily. In a press release Thursday after the markets closed, Blucora CEO Bill Ruckelshaus said that… Read More…

Amazon.com backs WhoSay to help celebs manage Twitter and Facebook posts

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Amazon.com is among the backers participating in a $12 million financing round for WhoSay, an online service that helps musicians, athletes and other celebrities better manage their Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr accounts. Comcast Ventures led the round with existing investors Greylock Partners, Amazon and High Peaks Ventures also participating. Comcast Ventures’ Sam Landman calls WhoSay… Read More…

Chart: Google leads pack of the top 50 Web sites in the U.S.

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Google remains the king of the hill when it comes to attracting visitors. The search engine attracted 189 million visitors during the month of June, well ahead of second place finisher Yahoo with 167 million, according to a report out from comScore Media Metrix. Microsoft finished third at 166 million, but Facebook is close on… Read More…

Beyond online advertising into knowledge monetization

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Each year, investors sink $2 million in U.S. Internet companies per every million dollars of total online advertising addressable opportunity: How can we make the Web profitable beyond online advertising? The venture capital industry invested more than $125 billion in Internet-related companies between 1995 and 2012, and since just five companies (Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and… Read More…

After the writedown: How Microsoft squandered its $6.3B buy of ad giant aQuantive

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It was supposed to change everything for Microsoft, creating a viable rival to Google and establishing the Redmond company as a force in online advertising. But five years after Microsoft purchased Seattle-based aQuantive for $6.3 billion in cash — at the time the largest acquisition in the software giant’s history — little is left to show for… Read More…

Microsoft cuts jobs in advertising and marketing

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Microsoft this morning confirmed that it has made additional job cuts in advertising and marketing. A Microsoft spokesman says in an email, “I can confirm that there were job eliminations today at Microsoft. Like any company, Microsoft continually evaluates its operations and works to align the business to key priorities. I can assure you we’re… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Zooppa hosts online advertising contests for big brands

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Crowdsourcing is a growing trend in the startup world with established companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo dominating the crowdsourced funding scene.  And now Zooppa, a startup based near Pioneer Square,  is bringing that model to the advertising world. The startup signs on companies and offers its members opportunities to create and submit advertisements on their behalf…. Read More…

Internet companies and the billion dollar money drain

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Over the last ten years, more than $43 billion was invested in 7,200+ Internet-related companies, according to the PWC MoneyTree report. Fifty percent of those companies will disappear within the first three years of operations, and the average venture capital fund will fail to even return back the capital plus management fees as per the… Read More…