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December 18, 2012

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Current News and Ideas for Web Developers and Marketers

Top Story

Amazon is on track to become ad-industry giant, experts say
Amazon is quietly crafting a self-serve real-time-bidding ad platform that taps into exchanges and third-party platforms such as Google's AdX and PubMatic. Given Amazon's ability to track and target its users according to their purchase histories and broader interests, that could turn the e-tailer into an advertising behemoth, experts say. "I think they could become one of the bigger media companies in the next five years or so," says Darren Herman of The Media Kitchen. Adweek (12/17)

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Trendwatch

Marketers get lessons in the "dark arts"
Barter-based media placements have long been considered one of marketing's "dark arts," but they're going mainstream thanks to a new focus on digital ad-sales and a struggling economy. Barter specialist Active International says 60% of its ad-barter deals now have a digital component, and that it's seeking to educate digital sales executives about barter's potential. "We've seen exponential growth in clients' interest and spending in the digital arena," said Jim Porcarelli, Active's chief strategy officer. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (12/17)

Regulators working on privacy rules for mobile apps
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Commerce Department, federal lawmakers, consumer groups and industry representatives are working to develop privacy standards for mobile apps. Some groups are focusing on creating new standards for user-privacy notifications; others examining the rules governing mobile data-collection, particularly for young app-users. "It may seem like a hodgepodge of disparate projects, but they're all working toward giving consumers more control over collection of their mobile data," writes Kate Kaye. The Hill/Hillicon Valley blog (12/16), Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (12/17), MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (12/14)

Getting the Word Out

Native ads fuel $4 billion mobile-advertising boom
Mobile advertising will increase 180% this year to top $4 billion, thanks in large part to an increase in native advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, eMarketer reports. Total U.S. mobile ad sales are expected to reach $7.19 billion in 2013, and almost $21 billion by 2016, topping earlier predictions. eMarketer (12/18)

Video ads are more effective in shorter clips, study shows
Ads placed in short video clips, such as the Web's ubiquitous cat videos, are more effective than when paired with long-form content, according to an AOL study. Viewers see conventional ad spots in longer videos as an interruption, the study found, while "short-form video produced a 25 percent higher brand recall and a 42 percent higher purchase intent for the featured product or service," writes Tom Cheredar. VentureBeat (12/17)

Developer Update

What's new in PHP 5.5
PHP 5.5 is now available in public alpha, and Gabriel Manricks takes a look under the hood. The biggest new feature are "generators," which let coders create persistent custom functions and emulate the "Lazy Evaluation" functions found in other programming languages. "With generators, your code is much cleaner and more precise," Manricks writes. NetTuts+ (12/17)

Design Corner

Why Web designers should love HTML5
HTML5 has plenty of features that should endear it to Web designers, writes Tara Hornor. The platform would be valuable for its video-handling capabilities alone, but it also includes useful attributes that make it easier to label your page's main text, headers, footers and other elements, Hornor writes. DesignFestival.com (12/17)

Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

Small businesses lack coherent social strategies
About half of small businesses don't use social media, and less than a quarter have a coherent, planned social media strategy, according to an SMB Group study. The remainder -- about 30% of SMBs -- use social media on an ad-hoc basis, suggesting that they're interested in but somewhat confused by social media. Small Business Trends (12/17)

Association News

Internet Advertising Competition Awards to present outstanding advertising developer award
In an effort to recognize those organizations that demonstrate exceptional development skills across multiple entries, agencies that win more the six awards will also be recognized with an Outstanding Advertising Developer award from the Web Marketing Association. In 2012, ten agencies won this honor.

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