AOL has purchased advertising network QUIGO for around $350 million. Quigo sells ads for the sites of ESPN, Forbes, Time Inc. magazines and more. It will become part of the newly formed Platform A division. Time Warner announced its 3Q earnings yesterday, and AOL revenue was down 38% to $1.2 billion. Almost half of that revenue was from ad sales.
THE WGA has told its writers to turn in scripts they began before the strike, as part of Strike Rule 8 , the Script Validation Program. Variety has polled writers and found that many will ignore the Guild’s request out of fear of being sued by studios. Meanwhile, FOX has pulled 24 from its schedule because it does not want to air a partial season of the hit show. ABC, however, will proceed with a partial season of Lost. News Corp.’s COO Peter Chernin weighed in on the strike, telling analysts that it was good for his company because they would “save more money.” Michael Eisner also shared his opinion, calling the strike “stupid” and a sign of “insanity” because the writers are looking for a cut of online money that does not yet exist.
TIVO will further encroach on NIELSEN territory by adding viewer demographics to the second-by-second ratings it sells to advertisers. “PowerWatch” will include data from a 20,000 home sample while Nielsen’s DVR data only samples 3,000 homes. TiVo will also make its viewers available to marketers via online polls about their viewing habits. An announcement of the new service is expected today.
IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg said online advertising is “at risk” from anti-consumer advocates and the FTC. During a speech at Ad:Tech he warned the audience about the possible effects of government regulation. However, he also said the industry was experiencing strong growth and was on track to reach a $20 billion year for the first time in history.
GOOGLE has updated AdWords to include “placement targeting,” a more precise version of site targeting. Bidding for placement targeting comes in two forms: cost-per-click or cost-per-impression.