Why Do Some Leaders Have More Influence than Others?

Some business leaders have a more widespread impact than others. What distinguishes those who have the greatest influence? Are they simply lucky -- the right people at the right time? Or do these leaders possess at their core a common set of characteristics that gives them the potential to be great? How much is the person and how much is the situation?

This is a false debate. Like many exercises in the study of great leadership, no one answer can stand on its own.

To help unravel this mystery, I have looked to the past to see what we can learn or unlearn from great business leaders, and I have studied present leaders in various arenas to better understand what has worked and what has not worked.

Clearly, context is important. Business leaders who have been sensitive to context possess what Nitin Nohria and I call contextual intelligence. Not only do these leaders understand the implications of the contextual forces that surround them, they also have the ability to adapt and change their leadership style and approach as environmental conditions evolve. Success in one realm does not always translate into success in another. Indeed, relying on past models of success without being sensitive to the context of the situation has often yielded major disappointments.

While there has been much research on personal characteristics of leaders, there is considerably less focus on macro-level environmental factors which can impede or accelerate success. In this space, I hope to build a discussion on what it will take to lead successfully in the 21st century -- specifically what it will take to be a great business leader. Is our definition of great business leaders the same as it was 100 years ago? What about just a decade ago? How will the evolving context shift our definition of great leadership? What will it take to lead in a more globally diverse world? I hope you will join me and share your insights and opinions on great business leadership.

Posted by Tony Mayo on July 3, 2007 2:14 PM

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/mayo/2007/07/great_business_leadership_in_t.html?referral=2616&cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-July_2007-_-leadership

Generation X Versus the Baby Boom

Ouch! The Painful Divide Between Generation X and the Boomers

Posted by Tammy Erickson on June 26, 2007 4:44 PM

The Boomer Century, a recent PBS special (first aired March 28, 2007), set off a torrent of vitriolic commentary. Whether you agree with the critics or not -- or even care about a TV show -- the existence and tone of the ensuing debate is worth considering seriously.

First, here’s a Boomer perspective on the show: It was a fun romp through some of the most important and formative events of our Boomer lives, hosted by one of our generation’s frequent spokesmen (and a good friend of mine) Ken Dychtwald.

The Xers responded with scorn and furry. Virginia Heffernan, writing in the venerable New York Times, said the show “labors to con us into sharing its fierce assumption that the only way to see the last 60 years of civilization is through the collective ego of the American children born between 1946 and 1964.” In her view, the show did little but “relive Kennedy assassination clichés and revisit palaver about idealism, disillusionment and self-discovery.”

She only opened the floodgates. Martin Kuz’s article in the San Francisco Weekly was titled, “Boomtastrophe.” Among other points, he claims Baby Boomers are “dragging the whole country down.” Regarding the show itself, he says, “shunning veracity, PBS presented The Boomer Century: 1946—2046. Billed as a documentary, it wove a narrative that hewed closer to mythology, depicting the Me Generation as mankind's gift to its own.”

Ouch.

Rest assured that Boomers answered back, but furthering that particular debate is not my objective today. (Google “The Boomer Century” if you want to read more from either side.)

Rather, let’s take a deep breath and reflect on the raw nerve this TV show exposed. As hard as it is for Boomers to believe, most members of Generation X are not your biggest fans. To many Xers, Boomers have been a continual thorn, always holding the vast majority of the “good jobs” and seemingly diminishing their limited economic opportunities yet further. Boomers have taken up far too much physical space and mental mindshare, often with an air of decided superiority and self-pre-occupation, for far too long. But despite lofty teenage promises, they have done little to better either corporations or broader world. The workplace that Boomers have managed has not been overly receptive to many Xers’ values and preferences. And, as Xers move into positions of increased authority, resentments related to the results of Boomers’ custodial roles -- of the environment, international relationships, the national debt -- are already beginning to surface.

Tammy Kobliuk offered the following thoughtful response to one of my earlier posts: “In my last office I was one of the few Gen Xers working with a large number of Baby Boomers. There is a definite culture difference between the two groups despite an often small separation in age. Gen Xers are more concerned with finding the right job for them, regardless of which company, instead of sticking with a company and hoping to climb the ladder. I have found many Boomers to be very ambitious and concerned with climbing the ladder. Many are unhappy in their jobs yet don't consider leaving their organizations. Gen Xers, on the other hand, are often more concerned with a work-life balance where they work to live instead of live to work. Free time is highly valued, probably more so than money for many. We have seen Boomers fill and stay in management/ leadership positions thus resigning us to remain in the rank and file. We tend to job hop more than Boomers since company loyalty is not something we expect, having seen and been affected by the downsizing of the 80's and 90's. Boomers are seen by Gen Xers as a "me" generation. It's all about them. They got the jobs and the houses and we were left with the leftovers.”

Going forward, striking a respectful truce with Xers will need to become an important Boomer priority. Without it, there is the possibility of generational conflict and a paucity of talent to sustain the corporations Boomers have dedicated their lives to.

Repairing relations between these two generations may involve Boomers helping to make corporations more receptive to the needs of Generation X. It may involve getting out of their way gracefully, moving perhaps into individual contributor roles within corporations, and turning the reins of leadership over to them. Or, it may involve shifting Boomer priorities to demonstrate more of the generation’s good qualities: the passion and commitment to change that marked Boomer’s teen years. Boomers have the opportunity to use your large numbers in ways that will further agendas that X’ers would support, to be sensitive to their needs as a generation, as well as your own. Now’s the time.

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/2007/06/ouch_the_painful_divide_betwee_1.html?referral=2616?cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-July_2007-_-leadership

Source: Harvard Business Review

Mobile AdSense a Reality, Google Invites Testers

Google has extended invitations to mobile website publishers to test the display of AdSense ads on those sites, reports PC World.

The search/advertising giant is conducting a limited test of the system as it gathers feedback for use in developing a final product. Getting AdSense into the mobile world would be a major coup for Google, as more and more users fire up their wireless devices for web surfing purposes.

In order to participate, sites must be written in one of three mobile-friendly markup languages. The restrictions are due to Google's crawlers needing to be able to read the page in order to place appropriate ads.

SEM Done Sideways

What do you do if the product or service you’re trying to sell is so unique or unprecedented that people don’t know how to search for it?

Search marketing relies on figuring out what a user wants from the words he’s using to look for it, and then serving up ads that fit that want. But if that seeker doesn’t know something even exists out there in the market, he’s highly unlikely to type in a string of search terms that will let you target him effectively for an offer.

“If you can’t target people when they come in through the front door by requesting the information [in a search query], then you have to reach them through the side door,” says Danielle Leitch, executive vice president for client strategy with search marketing firm MoreVisibility. “You have to serve ads up alongside of content that’s contextually relevant to who you are and what you’re offering.”

As an illustration of the sideways approach, Leitch points to a service that gives golf lessons to female executives in the finance industry who want to further their careers and close deals on the links. It’s a great niche, of course—but not one that many people are going to think to look for in search terms of four words or less.

“How does a human resource director of a financial institution even find out that such a service exists, or that he or she should be looking at it to help the company’s women executives build networking and sales skills?” she says.

The advertiser could assemble a list of keywords that describe the golf teaching service and use those to market through pay-per-click ads. But anything less than a pretty full multi-word keyword is going to generate lots of unqualified clicks. On the other hand, fully describing the service might require more words than anyone has ever typed into a query box. The amount of traffic driven to your site through such a complex search term would be negligible.

“If you market to ‘golf lessons’, you’re going to get the guy on the corner who’s looking for a $50 one-hour lesson. But why would anyone be searching for ‘women’s golf lessons/ executive/ networking skills’?”

That’s the type of situation that calls for contextual or behavioral ad channels, Leitch says. Very often such innovative or niche products and services have a clear customer profile in mind—a basic requirement for effective marketing through these ancillary paths. For example, the golf entrepreneur might know enough to target either women finance managers or bank HR executives.

“So you take that a step further and ask, ‘Where are these people online and what are they doing? What sites do they go to regularly?’” she says. The most likely possibilities are human-resource sites and financial Web pages and publications.

With that aim, a marketer can go out and deliver pay-per-click ads alongside relevant content on Web sites that offer an audience with the appropriate demographic.

“In a sense, it’s taking marketing back to basics by trying to get across by association the look, feel, and touch of what you’re trying to sell,” Leitch says. “For a high-end, unique product with a limited client base, that can be tough to do with a keyword—even one comprised of three or four terms.” Better in those cases to serve up the offer alongside relevant content and play up the natural synergy between the Web site and your target prospect.

It’s recently become easier to do this within Google’s AdSense network of publisher sites. It used to be that Google wouldn’t let advertisers specify the sites their ads would appear on, and in fact refused to lift the veil on exactly which publishers belonged to their network.

“The only way you found out where your contextual ad was appearing on Google AdSense was if you went through your server logs after the fact and looked for referring traffic,” Leitch says. “Even then it was concealed if the traffic was being redirected through a Google link; it came though as just ‘Google syndication partner’.”

But Google has grown more forthcoming about its contextual network in recent weeks, and Leitch says marketers on the network now can choose between contextual ads based on their keywords or a site-targeted approach that restricts a campaign to selected Web sites.

Google’s not the only option for contextual advertising. Leitch says MoreVisibility has also had good results placing ads with Quigo, whose AdSonar network has always been transparent to marketers about member sites and demographics.

“Basically, you give them the categories that you fall into as an advertiser, and they provide you with a list of URLs within their network that they feel are a good match for your category,” she says. “Then you can refine that list further into those sites you want your ad to run on.”

After spending some time running ads on the AdSonar network, marketers can then take a look to see which specific sites converted well, optimize the messages for those sites, and restrict their campaigns to those contextual partners where they’re earning the best return on investment.

Advertising on behavioral networks such as Tacoda or AlmondNet can add another layer of targeting to contextual campaigns by serving the ads up based on what users do rather than what they happen to be reading at the moment.

To Leitch, the lessons learned from marketing products or services that can’t be efficiently advertising with a few terms simply underline the fact that search marketing is maturing into something less mechanical than it was in the early days.

“We’ve heard this from a lot of the search engines, and our company is now starting to preach it too: Search is not just keywords and costs per click anymore,” she says. “The industry has evolved into something more. Keywords are still a component of search, and cost-per-click is still a method of payment. But search has gone way beyond that now. Keywords are the foundation—but now you can build on top of that.”

http://directmag.com/searchline/7-11-07-Contextual-SEM/

Target Marketing Priorities Survey: Direct Marketing Generates Best ROI

Direct mail and email generated the best return on investment among media channels in 2006, according to respondents - both B2B and consumer marketers - to a new Harte-Hanks survey administered by CSO Insights.

Among business-to-business marketers, digital marketing - email, websites and online registrations, and search - are seeing increased investments, but a “continuing struggle with data quality” is a “major roadblock to success,” the study found.

Meanwhile, consumer marketers point to a lack of data quality - currency and accuracy - as hurting marketing efforts, though marketers gave higher marks for data quality than they had in a previous survey two years ago, according to the findings of “Target Marketing Priorities Analysis: 2007 Key Trends.”

Among all media, digital media categories - with the exception of paid search - receive the highest priorities, with near-equal attention given to data analysis, among other data-related concerns.

In both B2B and consumer markets, prompt action based on data analysis is a top priority for business demand generation, the study reported.

Asked to cite the relative importance of web-based marketing programs to the overall success of target marketing, retailers selected the following, in order of importance (via InternetRetailer):

1. Web sites and micro-sites
2. Search optimization
3. Email marketing
4. Online advertising
5. E-publishing/e-newsletters
6. E-fulfillment
7. Paid search
8. Webinars
9. Blogs

Asked which strategies were increasing the most in importance, respondents cited the following:

1. Web-based marketing
2. Data analysis and insight
3. Email marketing
4. Data-based marketing
5. Online advertising
6. Search marketing
7. Data acquisition
8. Telemarketing
9. Direct mail
10. Paid search
11. Traditional media

“As companies invest more in multiple channels in a bid to acquire customers, and to retain their loyalty, it appears businesses continue to grapple with data management and data insight - and just what the metrics are saying,” said Bill Goldberg, corporate officer and senior vice-president, Harte-Hanks.

About the study: Among the respondents, 28% represented technology companies, 19% from the manufacturing sector (non-tech), 13% among services companies, 9% financial, 7% in healthcare and 5% retailers and consumer package goods companies - with a variety of other sectors (nonprofit, government, education, travel and transportation, among others) making up the other 24%. Approximately 60% of survey respondents represent B2B marketers.

Most Popular Retail Email Days of the Past Year

Retailers sent the most emails in the weeks before Christmas - including on seven of the top eight email days in the previous 12 months - according to a study by the Email Experience Council’s RetailEmail blog, MediaPost writes.

Those most-popular email days included Cyber Monday (ostensibly the biggest online sales day of the year; it fell on Nov. 27 in 2006) and the subsequent three “Echo Mondays” (Dec. 4, 11 and 18) - two of which were actually bigger email days than Cyber Monday.

The biggest email day of the year was the day after Christmas 2006, with more than 53% of tracked retailers sending email on Dec. 26.

Other popular email days were related to the income tax deadline (this year, April 17), Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter.

More than half of the most popular days were in December. The rest were spread over January, February, March and April - and none were in July, August, September and October.

Tuesday was the popular day among the Top 20 retail email days, with Monday close behind. Wednesday made it on the list only once.

Study: Email Marketing Campaigns Need Better Landing Pages

A review by Silverpop of 150 email marketing campaigns’ landing pages has found that many fail to grab attention quickly and some are confusing and cluttered, despite studies showing that up to 50% of visitors to landing pages will abandon the page after a mere 8-second glance.

Some landing pages quickly grabbed attention and kept readers interested, while others were easily dismissed and quickly discarded, according to “8 Seconds to Capture Attention: Silverpop’s Landing Page Report.”

Some key findings from the report:

• The confusion of arriving at a web page that doesn’t match the look and tone of the email can lead visitors to abandon the site:
  • Yet 35% of the landing pages reviewed by Silverpop didn’t have the same look or tone of the email that generated the click.
  • 29% of B2C companies posted landing pages that didn’t match the email, compared with 41% of B2B companies.
• To reinforce the call-to-action that generated the email recipient to click a link in the first place, best practice is to repeat the offer on the landing page:
  • However, 55% of landing pages didn’t repeat the strong promotional copy found in the email.
  • A full 63% of B2B landing pages failed to do so.
  • 52% of B2C landing pages did not do so.

• Taking a clicker to a website’s homepage generally fails to deliver on the promise inherent in the email’s call-to-action:
  • Yet 17% of email marketing campaigns dumped recipients on the homepage.
  • Just one-third of recipients were taken to a landing page especially created for the email
  • Half were taken to a page within the website, albeit a relevant one.

• Customers and prospects can end up at a landing page via various routes, so capturing email addresses of those who are not in the company’s database, but have arrived at the page, is essential:
  • But 35% of the landing pages didn’t include an opt-in request.
  • Half of B2B landing pages include opt-in requests.
  • 30% of B2C landing pages did so.
• Asking too many questions can lead prospective customers to become wary and frustrated enough that they abandon the process.
  • Nevertheless, 45% of landing pages that included forms required more than 10 fields to be completed.
  • 32% had between 6 and 10 fields.

About the study: Silverpop’s Strategic Research Team registered to receive emails from 150 top online marketing companies. Landing pages reached from clicking links in each email were evaluated for 14 elements, such as matching the email leading to the page and/or the company’s website, ease of navigation, amount of copy and design formats.

Conversion vs. Conversion Rate

Why does rate of conversion matter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's very reasonable to think that only absolute conversions matter: How many sales you made, how many leads you gathered. So why does anyone care about the *rate* of conversion? After all, if the New York Times linked to your site, you'd have a lot of extra traffic, but it might not be well-qualified. All those extra visitors would increase the denominator of the conversion ratio (which we like to measure as actions divided by visits), but there might only be a couple of extra sales. Your conversion rate would probably plummet during that time period -- but you made extra money. Are we upset that your rate is down and your revenue is up?

There are some specific (and very common) situations that cause website owners to care about the conversion rate:

1. When you are paying by the click (e.g. Google AdWords). If you pay a dollar per click, for example, and you get 5000 clicks, that's $5000. Let's say your average order size is $25. If your conversion rate is 2%, that translates into 100 orders, or $2500. So you lost money on the deal -- because your conversion rate is too low (and because you are paying too much for the click, when the average ticket is only twenty-five bucks.)

2. When you are working with affiliate marketing. There are probably affiliate marketers who charge by the click (see above.) But most of the affiliate deals we see are pay per action -- you pay Shopzilla or Pricegrabber or whomever for the conversion or for the lead. So why care about rate -- after all, you only pay when the customer converts! The problem arises when affiliates see lots of traffic going to your site, but not lots of money coming back to them. They aren't happy, they will want to cut better deals with your competitors. Likewise, if you have a great conversion rate, they'll want to do special favors for you.

3. When you are working with organic search. It's true that you don't have to pay per click. But whether you are paying an employee or a firm to do your Search Engine Optimization, you've made an investment. The higher your conversion rate, the higher your return on that investment.

4. When you are paying for online PR. It's true that you might get lucky and get a link from the NYTimes, or better yet, your story might get picked up by the blogosphere, then picked up by the mainstream media, and you'll be on CNN by nightfall. Those are the stories we hear about. Most of the time, creating your own buzz is a lot of hard work. Time equals money, so you can apply the same logic here as we did to the SEO employee: the higher the conversion *rate*, the higher the ROI.

In fact, you could argue that the only forms of traffic that are "free" are referring links - sites that link to yours because they like your site -- and bookmarked or typed in traffic. The latter group is often repeat users, and depending on your product, should have one of the highest conversion rates of all your Internet channels.

And that's why everyone cares about conversion rate.

Robbin Steif
http://www.lunametrics.com

Microsoft Search Share Surges, Ambushes Google with Live Search Club

Microsoft has apparently made good on its threat to challenge Google for search market share, and has resorted to “paying” searchers to use its Live Search - a concept that Chairman Bill Gates had publicly mused about in Dec. 2005.

MSN/Live Search increased its search volume 67% from May to June - and a full 48% from a year earlier (June 2006), according to just released search marketer share figures from Compete.

As a result that extra-ordinary growth, MSN/Live gained market share from its competitors, with Google’s falling 4.3 percentage points in June - to 62.7%, from 67.0% in May, according to a blog post by Compete’s Steve Willis.

“A good portion of the additional Live searches are coming from the Live Search Club, where you can apparently play games for points which you can redeem for fine Microsoft products. All of the games involve using Live’s search engine - to get the points, you have to search with Live,” Willis explains.
The Live Search Club had negligible traffic in April, but in May traffic went up to 0.3 million or so unique visitors - then grew some tenfold in June, accounting for more than 3 million visitors, according to Compete.

“If Microsoft can actually leverage this traffic to club.live.com into actual search users and string together a few more months like this, they could really threaten Google’s top spot,” Willis concludes.

For an idea of how Live Search Club could generate such search traffic, consider a readers’ comment on the Compete blog:

As a club live player, and a participant in various message boards regarding these games, I can offer my opinion that this enormous increase in traffic makes perfect sense. Each time one plays one of these club live games, it racks up dozens of search engine hits, and a game might take 5 minutes. So hundreds of hits per hour. And some of the prizes are so lucrative (for example, a $400 retail version of Windows Vista in exchange for maybe 10 hours of playing games, now that the solutions to all the puzzles have been posted in various places), people play hour after hour after hour. I know of people who have already won 10 or 20 copies of Windows Vista.

In addition, there has been significant amounts of “botting” going on, people running bots which play the games for them. A single one of these people can be generating tens of thousands of search engine hits over time.

Four Out of Five Newspaper Website Readers Also Read the Printed Edition

A new study recently released by the Newspaper National Network LP, conducted by Scarborough Research, found that 81% of newspaper website users also read the printed newspaper in the last 7 days. Crossover users (those who used both print and online newspapers in the past 7 days) have deep affinity with both their printed newspaper and their newspaper website, and 83% say "I love both my printed newspaper and visiting my newspapers website." Crossover users visit their newspaper website to:

• Access breaking news (96%),
• Find articles seen previously (85%)
• Find things to do/places to go (72%)

Jason E. Klein, President and CEO of Newspaper National Network, said "The study shows that the core newspaper reader now accesses his or her local newspaper across multiple formats, print and web, and is deeply engaged with both... 83% of crossover users say their newspaper site will be among their primary destinations 5 years from now."

The study found that newspaper website-only users are 55% female, while crossover users are only 48% female. The main reasons newspaper website-only users cited for using newspaper websites include:

• Accessing local news (84%)
• Entertainment information (74%)
• Food or restaurant information (58%)

Newspaper website-only users are web-savvy group as 52% write or read blogs and 46% have joined a web community.

The two segments differ in the time of day they are using newspapers:

• Crossover users are more likely to read their printed newspaper in the morning (63% read the printed newspaper before 10am) and access their newspaper website in the afternoon or evening (46%).
• Newspaper website only users are more likely to access the website in the morning (49% of website-only users access the website before 10am vs. 34% of crossover users).

Contrary to some perceptions, the web has not hurt overall newspaper consumption, as 87% of crossover users report that their time spent with newspaper media has increased or remained the same versus only 12% who say time spent has decreased.

Other key Study findings:

The last time you read or looked into any printed copy of the (Newspaper Name):

• Read last 7 days: 81%
• Read 8-30 days ago: 9%
• Read longer than 30 days ago: 7%
• Never Read: 3%

Combined Time Spent With Print And Web-Based Newspaper Media Since You Began Using A Newspaper Website

• 52% remained the same
• 35% increased
• 12% decreased
• 1% Don't Know

For more information, please visit here to find  the NNN Newspaper Footprint Study.

comScore Confirms 36% Jump in Microsoft Search Volume

Newly released online search figures from comScore’s qSearch analysis of activity across competitive search engines confirm a sharp increase in Microsoft’s share of search volume - up 36% from the previous month. Last week, Compete had released data showing a surge in search market share for Microsoft’s Live Search.

Compete pointed (as does comScore) to the Live Search Club, which Microsoft launched in late May to engage and reward users of Live Search.

As a result of that 36% increase in Microsoft search queries, which totaled 1.1 billion in June, search share for Microsoft sites increased 2.9 percentage points, accounting for 13.2% of all US search queries conducted in June, according to comScore data.

Nevertheless, Google sites maintained search dominance, claiming the top spot in the rankings with 49.5% of the US search market, comScore said.

Also according to comScore:

• Yahoo sites captured second place with 25.1% of US searches, followed by Microsoft sites (13.2%), Ask Network (5.0%) and Time Warner Network (4.2%).
• Google sites led the pack with 4.0 billion search queries performed, followed by Yahoo sites (2.0 billion), Microsoft sites (1.1 billion), Ask Network (403 million), and Time Warner Network (341 million).
• Despite declining in search market share in June, both Google sites and Yahoo sites had increases in search query volume.
• In all, Americans conducted 8.0 billion searches online in June, up 6% from May and up 26% from June 2006.

Glimpse of the Future, 1994

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1l6aBgX5UY

Eye-Tracking Device Lets Billboards Know When You Look at Them

Dan Skeen 06.12.07 | 2:00 AM

Billboards that know when you're looking at them will soon be a reality, if new eye-tracking gear from a Canadian startup makes good on its maker's claims.

The eyebox2 from xuuk is a palm-size video camera surrounded by infrared light-emitting diodes. It can record eye contact with 15-degree accuracy at a distance of up to 33 feet. A simple glance from a passerby scores an impression, providing a tally that enables new Google-like measurement metrics that real-world advertisers could only dream about until recently.

"It will revolutionize the digital-signage industry because it solves the half-missing part of the business model," explains xuuk CEO Roel Vertegaal, who spent several years developing the gear in the Human Media Lab of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. "Right now they're pushing ads to clients, and they don't even know if those clients are seeing those ads."

Vertegaal's team has overcome some traditional barriers to eye-tracking gear by leveraging the red-eye effect that frustrates many photographers, in which light is reflected back to the camera from the subject's retina. The eyebox2 registers a view by deliberately inducing an instance of infrared-eye. When your eyeballs are aimed in its direction, they reflect light back to the camera, which detects the reflection and registers the fact that someone is looking at it.

This removes several limitations imposed by common eye-tracking gear, which requires careful calibration for each viewer, is often limited to very short distances and typically costs about $25,000. The eyebox2 sells for $1,000.

The digital-signage industry is low-hanging fruit for a product that offers tangible viewer metrics. Until now, methods of measuring the traffic and reach of billboards and plasma displays have been limited to human-conducted site surveys using notepads and tally-counters.

Eye-tracking gear has been used in retail settings to learn more about shoppers' viewing habits, but those studies were limited to small sample groups of headgear-wearing volunteers in laboratories. The eyebox2 offers an automated method to find hot spots of eye activity in the real world, and also to assess the effectiveness of specific ads.

"This type of technology will have a big influence on how digital-signage media is bought and sold," says Mike Foster, vice president of marketing for MediaTile, a Scotts Valley, California-based provider of digital-signage networks. "It’s extremely important for the industry to know who's seeing the content."

But while Vertegaal suggests that the "first" use for xuuk's technology is ambient advertising, he has his sights set on other areas. His grand vision is to use eye activity to create "a mouse for the real world." One potential outcome is more polite devices: Cell phones that won't ring when you're in a conversation, hearing aids that amplify the person you are looking at and TV sets that turn off when you're not watching them.

Vertegaal compares it to the office colleague who might wait in your doorway to establish eye contact before interrupting. "Eye contact is used to negotiate attention, and it’s fascinating how it works in humans," Vertegaal says. "We can have technology do the same thing."

MBP Overview: The Scoop on Digital Billboards

Out of home advertising is a growing $6.8 billion industry, and digital billboards are expected to be the fastest area of growth within the medium. Billboard companies such as Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor are quickly launching digital networks or replacing old billboards with digital, but some controversy surrounds the new technology. While the Outdoor Advertising Association of America calls the display on a digital billboard "similar to static billboards," and mandates that an image not change more often than every six to eight seconds, some reports in the media describe the billboards as "plasma TVs" and wonder whether they pose safety hazards.

What Exactly Are They?

Digital billboards create displays that look much like static billboards, but they allow advertisers to remotely and instantaneously change messages as needed to suit the needs of their advertising campaigns. For example, a sign may display changing interest rates or mortgage rates, lottery jackpot updates or sales specials.

With some digital networks such as Clear Channel's, advertisers can purchase campaigns by day part, location, or specific demographics, allowing them to run more highly targeted campaigns. Billboard companies can sell more advertising for a single board because they create a continuous loop of ads, with each ad being displayed for between 6 to 8 seconds.

Digital billboards have also been used to display AMBER Alerts to help find missing children, and to display other law enforcement and emergency information.

Some companies have used digital billboards to interact with viewers and to personalize the messages that the billboards display. MINI USA, for example, launched a campaign in which digital billboards flashed personal messages to Mini drivers as drove by the signs. Calvin Klein invited passers-by to text message answers to questions posed by the billboard. The answers were then displayed on the sign.
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America's Code of Industry Practices dictates that digital billboards do not feature animation, flashing lights, scrolling, or full-motion video. The standards call for static messages.

The Size of the Market

Alternative out-of-home media spending surged 27.0 percent to $1.69 billion in 2006 and is projected to grow at an accelerated 27.7 percent rate in 2007, according to a study from PQ Media.

The study found that of the three sub-segments of alternative out-of-home media, digital billboards and displays is the fastest-growing, with spending soaring 55.4 percent in 2006 to $233.2 million.

Currently, only about 500-plus billboards out of an estimated 450,000 total billboards in the United States are digital, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. But it is estimated that several hundred digital displays may be built each year and that there may be as many as 4,000 by 2017.

Concerns

The lead researcher on a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) study released in early 2004 said that neither visual behavior nor driving behavior changes measurably, even in the presence of the most visually attention-getting billboards. Another study, from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety based on crash data and prepared for the Foundation by researchers at the University of North Carolina, said items such as CB radios, billboards, and temperature controls are not significant distractions. And in 1996, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a memo that said changeable-message billboards are acceptable if allowed by state-federal agreements.

But other driving safety researchers say there isn't enough research to prove that they are safe, and that digital signs may tax a driver's awareness more than static signs.Deanna Singhal, research associate at the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, a driving safety group in Ottawa, believes that not only do digital billboards keep drivers' eyes away from the road more, but that they are also more "cognitively demanding."

A study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration has recommended more research into whether the signs present risks to drivers, and the federal government has also allotted $150,000 for a study of digital signage. That study may not be completed until 2009.
While more than 40 states currently allow digital billboards, some cities have expressed concern over the technology, and others, such as St. Paul and Des Moines, have gone so far as to ban the technology until studies on when and where the signage should be allowed can be completed.

Report: Billboard Advertising to Grow by $2.85B by 2010

Modern urban lifestyles exhibit a tendency towards greater indulgence in outdoor activities, and people are spending a greater portion of their time traveling. The rapidly growing popularity of digital billboards, and their ability to air attractive full motion video and visually informative graphic presentations, is helping speed the growth of outdoor advertising.

With such advancements, the world billboard advertising market, the largest mode of outdoor advertising, is expected to increase by $2.85 billion between 2007 and 2010, according to Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Europe is said to dominate this market with a 31 percent share, while Asia-Pacific turbo charges global growth with a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 percent. The transit advertising market represents the fastest growing mode of outdoor advertising, with the potential to reach $7.14 billion by 2010. The street furniture advertising market in the Middle East and Africa is expected to reach $64.05 million by 2010.

By region, the world outdoor advertising market is dominated by Europe. Growth in Europe is fashioned by the highly lucrative Russian market, which is forecast to grow at a rate of 30.2 percent over the analysis period. Outdoor advertising expenditures in the two other fast growing European markets, Hungary and Norway, together are expected to rise by $119.9 million between 2007 and 2010.

In Asia-Pacific, unbridled growth is forecast to be witnessed in Indonesia, Thailand, and China. Together, these three regional markets are expected to corner close to 65 percent of the total expenditures on outdoor advertising in Asia, by 2010.

Leading global and regional players operating in the industry include Clear Channel Outdoor, JCDecaux, CBS Outdoor, Lamar Advertising Company, Titan Outdoor Limited, Van Wagner Communications, Planar Control Room and Digital Signage, EPAMEDIA, MarketForward, Omnivex Corporation, Primedia Outdoor Pty Ltd., and Clear Media Limited, among others.

Related topics: Outdoor, Planning, Research, Signs of What's to Come...   

Research Shows Digital Billboards Safe for Drivers

 

New research from the Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research and Education has indicated that digital billboards are no less safe than their traditional counterparts.
In order to help media companies make the case for digital billboards to local municipalities, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America unveiled the two studies - one that analyzed the correlation between digital boards and traffic accidents and another that examined driver behavior.

The studies come at a time when outdoor companies are building out digital billboards (boards that rotate static images displayed for 6 to 8 seconds). Costing more than $250,000 to erect, companies can sell the same space on digital billboards to multiple advertisers, increasing revenue by several multiples.

Over the last few years, 500 digital billboards have been erected. While that's still a small percentage (0.1 percent) of the 450,000 billboards in the U.S., the OAAA estimates that media companies will erect several hundred digital displays each year.

Tantala Associates, a consulting engineering firm, found no statistical relationship between digital boards and traffic accidents after examining traffic and accident data near all seven existing digital billboards in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, over a period of 18 months before and after the billboards were converted to digital.

A second study conducted by the Center for Automotive Safety Research at Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute concluded that digital boards were "safety neutral," based on a study of eye glance movements of 36 drivers in specially-equipped cars in Cleveland.

Results showed no differences in the overall glance patterns or frequency of glances between digital and traditional boards. Although drivers took longer glances in the direction of digital billboards, the mean glance length time was less than one second, generally considered to be an acceptable amount of time for a glance away from the forward roadway.

So far, 29 states have adopted laws or regulations on the books allowing digital billboards that display multiple static images for 6 to 8 seconds. (Only places such as New York City and Las Vegas have full motion video boards.) Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee approved digital boards just this year. Only a small number of states don’t allow any changeable-message billboards, such as Delaware, whose legislature recently approved legislation to allow digital billboards, a measure now awaiting Governor approval. A few states allow tri-action billboards, but not digital billboards.

"It's appropriate for the industry to study their product and make sure it's safe," said Paul Cook, chairman of FOARE. "Regulations don't always keep up with technology, leaving the public with questions about driver safety. These studies break new ground about digital billboards and traffic safety," he added.

In addition to countering safety concerns, the OAAA emphasized the public safety advantage that digital billboards can provide to help find fugitives or lost children.

Related topics: Outdoor, Planning, Regulatory, Research, Signs of What's to Come...   

Outdoor Advertising Market to Reach $30.4 Billion Worldwide

Driven by the growing popularity of out-of-home lifestyles as well as technology advancements leading to innovations in signage, the world market for outdoor advertising is projected to reach $30.4 billon by 2010, according to a recent report.

While major, and mature, markets such as the Europe, United States and Japan slow down, emerging markets like Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa are expected to help drive the market, with a growth potential of 12%, and 10% respectively, according to Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (via MediaBuyerPlanner)

Other data from the report titled “Outdoor Advertising: A Global Strategic Business Report”:

• World billboard advertising market, the largest mode of outdoor advertising, is expected to increase by $2.85 billion from 2007 to 2010.
• Europe dominates the billboard market with a 31% share, while Asia-Pacific turbo-charges global growth with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3% for the forecast period.
• Transit advertising is the fastest-growing mode of outdoor advertising and is expected to reach $7.14 billion by 2010.
• Street furniture advertising market in Middle East & Africa is expected to reach $64.05 million in 2010.
• By region, the world outdoor advertising market is dominated by Europe, in part because of the highly lucrative Russian market, which is forecast to grow at a robust double-digit CAGR of 30.2% over the analysis period.
• Outdoor advertising expenditures in the two other fast-growing European markets, Hungary and Norway, together are expected to rise by $119.9 million from 2007 to 2010.
• In Asia-Pacific, unbridled growth is forecast in Indonesia, Thailand and China: Together, these regional markets are expected to corner close to 65% of the total expenditures on outdoor advertising in Asia by 2010.
• In the Middle East, UAE and Turkey are expected to generate the highest growth, with expenditures in these markets, together, projected to reach $214.03 million by 2010.

Leading global and regional players operating in the industry include Clear Channel Outdoor, JCDecaux Group, CBS Outdoor, Lamar Advertising Company, Titan Outdoor Limited, Van Wagner Communications, Planar Control Room and Digital Signage, EPAMEDIA, MarketForward, Omnivex Corporation, Primedia Outdoor Pty Ltd., and Clear Media Limited, according to Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

About the report: “Outdoor Advertising: A Global Strategic Business Report” provides a review of media technology trends, advertising practices, market drivers, issues, and challenges. Modes of outdoor advertising analyzed in the report include Billboards, Transit, Street Furniture, and Alternate forms. Latent demand patterns in all market segments are quantified across major geographic markets.

153 Consumer Mags to Debut in 2007; 62 Digital Initiatives in Q2

Some 153 announcements of new or yet-to-be-published magazines were identified in the first half of 2007 by research conducted by Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). That’s a 7% increase in announcements compared with the same period last year.

Within the second quarter, 48 announcements of new or upcoming titles were tracked - a 14% increase over the second quarter of 2006.

The MPA also found that 62 magazine digital initiatives were announced in the second quarter of 2007 - a 139% increase over the same quarter in 2006, and the highest number tracked by MPA in any single quarter.

Among the new digital initiatives announced by publishers are integrated marketing initiatives, widgets, mobile content, more videos for websites, innovations in user-generated content and social networks, and many website redesigns.

Among the new magazine titles announced or forthcoming in 2007:

• 30 titles serving affluent readers
• 21 magazines related to sports and recreation
• 10 magazines announced for kids and teens
• 8 magazines with a focus on home and shelter
• 8 magazines crafted for African-Americans
• 7 serving the Hispanic/Latino market.

Among the MPA members that announced digital initiatives in the second quarter of 2007:

• BusinessWeek: Online video hub, user-generated content, free online database
• Car and Driver: Content for cellphones and other wireless devices
• Condé Nast Publications: Ad insertion in podcasts, video podcasts, integrated marketing programs, social networking programs, user-generated content, online sweepstakes and contests
• Forbes: New online tools, stocks application, Facebook partnership, wikis, user-generated content, online databases, video, slideshows
• Hearst Magazines: Mobile sites, cellphone content, user-generated content, search tools, online video, branded webisodes
• Meredith Corporation: Broadband network, original video content, episodes, portal redesign, streaming video, blogs, design tools, desktop widgets, wikis, and social networking applications
• Rodale Inc.: Integrated marketing campaigns, social networking tools, user-generated content, photos, blogs, user profiles
• Time Inc.: Interactive video website devoted to the 2007 NBA Draft, online video library, website redesigns, user-generated content, exclusive online programming, video channel, picture gallery, free games
• TV Guide: Cross-platform initiatives, integrated marketing programs, personalized tools, integrated program guides, new mini-sites, editable downloadable TV schedules, video

The Magazine Digital Initiatives section of the MPA website provides a detailed list of new products and platforms for consumer magazines.

Some 17 MPA member publishers have announced new titles in 2007’s first half, with a total of 23 new and forthcoming magazines; among them are the following:

• Beckett Media: eSports
• Bonnier: Snow: Life, Lifts, Luxury
• Condé Nast: Portfolio
• Disney, ESPN: E Sports Parent N
• DRG: GiftMaker
• Forbes: Forbes Life Executive Women
• Hachette Filipacchi: Ty Pennington Style
• Hearst: 210SAMariah Media: Outside’s Go
• McGraw Hill: Chicago Architect
• Modern Luxury Media: Miami!, Modern Luxury Hawaii
• National Geographic: National Geographic Little Kids
• Ocean Drive Media Group: Michigan Avenue
• Rodale: Men’s Health Living, Men’s Health On Campus
• String Letter Publishing: Teen Strings
• Taunton Press: Be Sew Stylish
• Time Inc: Project Y, Your Look

Marketers Can ‘Buy’ Online Buzz

A high level of blog interest, or online buzz, around new product launches is tightly linked to paid media spending, according to a new study by The Nielsen Company that analyzed blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales for newly launched consumer packaged goods (CPG).

The study found that a large advertising budget is the best predictor of buzz, prompting Nielsen to conclude that marketing strategies that separate advertising and paid media from pure word-of-mouth tactics may be severely misguided.

According to the CPG buzz study:

• On average, the top 10% of products with the most buzz spent nearly $20 million on paid media for the launch.
• In contrast, the companies that generated the next 40% of blog buzz spent an average of $15 million.
• Companies that generated the bottom 50% spent an average of only $5 million.

The study evaluated nearly 80 new CPG products across several subcategories, launched in the US between 2005 and 2006.

Some CPG subcategories and products generated more buzz than others, according to the study:

• Some 10% of brands accounted for 85% of total CPG buzz in the study.
• Over-the-counter (OTC) drug brands have higher buzz, partly driven by consumers’ higher level of involvement with them.
• Edgy brands were also among the top 10% of products with the most buzz.

“Most CPG products are ‘everyday’ items, lacking in distinction and therefore propensity for buzz,” said Kate Neiderhoffer, director of methodology, Nielsen BuzzMetrics. “However, there are some exceptions to the rule, as evidenced by brands like Red Bull, Altoids, Crystal Pepsi and Viagra. The CPG industry should challenge itself to bring more innovative products to market, cultivated with more innovative marketing. The buzz will follow.”

Additional findings from the CPG buzz study:

• CPG buzz precedes sales: In the launches studied, buzz tends to occur very early in relation to a new product launch, with peaks in buzz preceding peaks in sales two-thirds of the time.
• High-volume buzz drives sales and improves forecasting: For the select products that generate substantial buzz, this study provided evidence that buzz volume can positively influence sales. In a regression-based sales forecasting experiment, incorporating actual buzz levels results in a meaningful accuracy improvement to forecasting models - as much as 20%.
• Brand ubiquity and distinctiveness help predict buzz: While a formal model for predicting buzz is not yet available, some factors appear to have predictive value: Beyond media spend and distribution, category familiarity (as indicated by higher purchase frequency) and product distinctiveness show value when attempting to anticipate or predict buzz.

About the study: The collaborative research was led by researchers from two Nielsen services - Nielsen BuzzMetrics (buzz analytics) and BASES (new product forecasting and consulting). The full report - “The Origin & Impact of CPG New Product Buzz” - is available via BuzzMetrics.

Services to safeguard e-mail

New Services Help Safeguard Outbound Messages Against
Forwarding and Tampering

By ANDREW LAVALLEE
August 31, 2006; Page D1

People who want to open email from patent attorney Andrew Currier have to know the drill. First, they must answer a predetermined question, such as "Where did we first meet?" If they answer correctly, they will then be allowed to view the contents of the email -- but they can't alter it or forward it to anyone else.

Concerned about privacy, the Toronto-based lawyer has begun using a new service that encrypts his emails and tries to keep unintended recipients from reading the contents. The tool, developed by Echoworx Corp., adds a "send secure" button to his Microsoft Outlook email program. Unlike other email-security systems Mr. Currier has tried, this one doesn't require recipients of his emails to download any software or use the same email program.

In Secure Mail, recipients must answer a predetermined question to open email.

"I really need it to be easy for the client on the other end," says Mr. Currier, who says that leaked information could be disastrous for one of their patent applications. "People don't appreciate just how vulnerable email is."

Amid heightened privacy concerns, a handful of technology companies are touting new services designed to make existing email programs, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook, more secure, with features ranging from emails that can't be forwarded to self-destructing messages that can be viewed only for a limited time. While most email programs by themselves guard against inbound attacks such as viruses and spam, they give computer users little control over the messages that are sent. So these third-party developers, which aren't working directly with Microsoft or other email companies, aim to fill that hole.

The new outbound-email services focus on safeguarding data and protecting the sender from legal liability, says Richi Jennings, an email-security analyst at Ferris Research in San Francisco. "The state of the art of the technology, though, for some time has just made it really difficult to deploy," he says. "That seems to be changing."

Echoworx, a closely held Toronto company, launched its new Secure Mail service in January. The service is sold through Internet service providers, including AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., which charge consumers $5 to $8 a month. The service appeals to individual users, as well as companies that want to ensure confidentiality, says Chris Erickson, an executive vice president at Echoworx. He declined to say how many people are currently using the service.

"For consumers it's all about identity theft," says Mr. Erickson. And because Secure Mail makes it easier to prove that messages were received and that their contents were unchanged, businesses can more safely negotiate deals through email, he says.

Another new service, Kablooey Mail, allows consumers to send "self-destructing" emails that can be viewed for only a limited time, which may appeal to people who don't want a record of their correspondence. The free service, which made its debut in July, lets individuals log on to Kablooey's site to compose a message and set an expiration time, which can range from 10 seconds to two weeks after the message is opened. (Senders can also elect to have the message not expire.) A copy of the message is saved in the sender's account, where it can be reviewed by the sender later, or deleted altogether for extra security.

The email is sent from the Web site, but appears as though it is coming from the sender's personal email address, such as an Outlook account. It shows up in the recipient's inbox with a link to a Web site with the message's content as well as a timer that shows how long before the message expires. A recipient is instructed to use only the up/down arrow keys or scroll bar to read the message; any other keystroke causes the message to expire instantly, which removes the message from the screen and prevents the recipient from accessing it again.

In addition to preventing alteration of email and letting the sender destroy messages, the service also allows senders to track when an email was opened, the recipient's Internet protocol address, and how long he or she viewed the message, says John Flanagan, chief technology officer of CDS Technologies LLC, the Delray Beach, Fla., company that designed Kablooey. The company will provide an affidavit with this tracking data if requested in a legal dispute. "It gives us a greater level of control" over email communications, Mr. Flanagan says.

Email is increasingly called on as evidence in court, says Dana Henry, a consultant for RPost International Ltd., a Los Angeles-based provider of "registered email" services. It is relatively easy to change the contents of a message or say it was never delivered, says Ms. Henry, a former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. "There is such incredible deniability on the part of the other party who is the recipient."

The RPost service, which also works with Outlook, is designed to ensure the authenticity of messages so that they can be used in legal disputes, if necessary. The program adds a unique digital seal to each registered email. A few minutes after sending the message, the sender receives an email receipt that includes when the message was delivered and opened. RPost will also verify whether the original message's content was changed. The sender can choose whether or not the email tells the recipient that the message is registered.

The RPost service, which charges senders 59 cents for each registered email, added a new feature in July that checks for "risky" content, such as Social Security numbers or key words that senders -- or the senders' employer -- have flagged, before delivering the message. Customers, especially lawyers and technology professionals, are interested in using the service to protect senders from email-related liability, says RPost CEO Zafar Khan. "That can often cost the company quite a bit more, especially in this country, in litigation and litigation-discovery costs," he says.

The new products aren't without their hurdles. Echoworx customers must warn recipients they'll be prompted with a question before they can read their email, and not being able to forward messages is sometimes a hindrance, says Darren Williams, an investment banker in Toronto. His employer, Solaris Capital Advisors, provides the Echoworx tool for all its employees.

As more companies develop email-security products, Microsoft isn't sitting idle. The company, whose Outlook technology is open enough to allow third parties to develop add-ons, says it is aware that consumers have security concerns. The coming Outlook 2007, which is expected to be widely available early next year, will let users send emails with expiration dates and electronic postmarks, as well as messages that can't be forwarded or printed.

While several of the new features overlap with Echoworx, Kablooey Mail and RPost's, says William Kennedy, general manager of Office communications services for Microsoft, there are still opportunities for third-party developers. "It doesn't mean for a second that we're not interested in a product that, out of the box, is very secure. But some customers may have specific requirements," he says.

Write to Andrew LaVallee at andrew.lavallee@wsj.com

Computer reads hand movements

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115698063303049998-search.html?KEYWORDS=camera+in+car&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month

No-Contact Technology

Microsoft System Reads
Hand Movements,
Doesn't Require Touch

By ROGER CHENG
August 31, 2006; Page B3

Microsoft Corp. researcher Andy Wilson is hands-off when it comes to technology.

Mr. Wilson is the designer of TouchLight, a system that enables people to rotate or expand computer images with the wave of their hands, similar to technology depicted in the science-fiction movie "Minority Report." In the 2002 film, Tom Cruise's hand motions manipulate holographic-like images to put together data and track down would-be killers.

In the real world, the 35-year-old Mr. Wilson has worked on the TouchLight technology for five years, part of Microsoft's research into unusual human-computer interfaces. Despite the effort, including a more basic prototype Mr. Wilson developed in late 2002, no product using the technology has gone to market.

That could be about to change. Eon Reality Inc., a closely held Irvine, Calif., company that makes three-dimensional computer models of products such as Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner, recently licensed TouchLight from Microsoft. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Eon Reality initially plans to push TouchLight as a new form of interactive advertising and marketing tool. "It's a way to interact with 2-D and 3-D data with your bare hands," said Dan Lejerskar, who manages the company's business development and is working with Microsoft on the applications of TouchLight. "We're trying to find a new way to define things."

Eon plans to wed its models with TouchLight, enabling the viewer to spin or zoom them through the movement of the hand. "If you want to grab it, you grab it," Mr. Lejerskar said. "If you want to rotate it, you just turn it around."

TouchLight works by positioning three cameras behind a large semitransparent screen. Mr. Wilson compares the left and right cameras, which are infrared and pick up the depth and height of the hand movements, to human eyes.

The middle camera, meanwhile, captures anything facing the screen, which can be a document or the user's face. An image, which can be manipulated by the person facing it, is displayed on the semitransparent display, giving off the illusion that it is floating in space.

In addition to Eon Reality's own applications, Mr. Lejerskar is marketing TouchLight systems, which cost $50,000 to $65,000 for a 40-inch to 60-inch display, camera and Eon Reality software, to others. He said there is a large interest in the technology, but so far it has only one taker: the United Kingdom's Technium CAST, which is a program affiliated with the University of Wales Bangor designed to help foster young technology businesses.

"I actually think it is superb," said Karen Padmore, director of visualization applications at CAST, who noted that during a recent computer-graphics trade show, TouchLight was a real show-stopper. "It captured people's attention immediately. From that perspective, it's very powerful and very intuitive."

Ms. Padmore said she plans to use the system as a training application and a way to develop visualization and communication programs. She added that she can envision additional uses.

In a medical setting, where things need to be kept sterile, for example, surgeons might flip through medical instructions or images without having to touch anything, she said. Likewise, auto mechanics with oil-stained hands can wave through virtual car diagrams without having to soil them.

TouchLight can capture the image of the person using the system, making it an ideal video-conferencing tool. Because the camera is directly behind the display, it is as if the person is talking face-to-face with someone else using a similar setup elsewhere.

The display can also superimpose a common image to allow for both sides to simultaneously work on the same design. Eon Reality said that option is under development and that eventually, multiple users could be incorporated.

Mr. Lejerskar said it is too early to set expectations for TouchLight. Eon Reality, which employs roughly 40 people, wouldn't provide financial details about itself, only saying it was profitable.

Despite the obvious comparison, Mr. Wilson said "Minority Report" didn't have any influence on the development of TouchLight. He did note that a classmate from his Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate program served as a design consultant on the film.

"We all kind of grew up with this kind of mind-set of natural interfaces," Mr. Wilson said.

Snapshot of America - Aug 2006

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115690008069149083-search.html?KEYWORDS=snapshot+of+america&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month

Snapshot of America:
Who's Richest, Poorest,
Where Single Men Are

By CHRISTOPHER CONKEY
August 30, 2006; Page D1

The Census Bureau -- which deals in big numbers, like the total number of Americans (299,599,204 as of 7 p.m. yesterday) and the percentage of households with incomes above $100,000 (17.2% last year) -- is taking a magnifying glass to the economy and offering fresh details about American communities and disparities among them.

The Census Bureau yesterday released its annual snapshot of America, as it always does at this time of year. But with more speed than in the past, it also provided details about individual communities, with populations as small as 65,000, in 2005.

The result is a wealth of new information and surprising facts about states and localities. A few samples:

UPDATE ON THE AMERICAN DREAM

• Chartbook: The Census Bureau issued its annual snapshot measuring how well the typical American family is doing.
• Full Text: U.S. Census American Community Survey
• Median Household Income Rises 1.1%
• Question of the Day: Should the widening gap between rich and poor be a significant issue in this year's elections?

Camden, N.J., a city struggling with crime, had a poverty rate of 44% in 2005 -- the highest number among small-to-midsize cities -- but so, too, did College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University. "That's very surprising," said Jim Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.

Among counties with populations of more than 250,000, the three where the households had the highest median incomes (the point at which half the households earn more, and half less) were in suburban Washington, D.C. -- Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia and Howard County in Maryland.

Government contracting continues to create high-paying jobs in the area. "It's always been our anchor," said Gerald Gordon, president and chief executive of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

The ratio of single men to single women between ages 15 and 44 last year was highest in Nevada (120.2 per 100 women), North Dakota (120.1) and Alaska (118.9). It was lowest in the District of Columbia (93.4).

Commuters in New York state had the longest average daily trip to work last year at 31.2 minutes, followed closely by commuters in Maryland and New Jersey. Those in the Dakotas had the easiest trip on average: only 16 minutes.

The new Census figures also shone statistical flashlights into the workplace. Women earned less than men in every state and region last year, the bureau said, but the gap was at its narrowest in Washington, D.C., where women earned 91 cents for every dollar that men earned.

Women working in finance and insurance earned about 55% of what men in that industry earned last year, the widest gap of any sector.

The earnings data were broken out not only among 20 broad industry sectors but also among 22 major occupational groups. Within "legal occupations," men had a median income of $102,272, but women earned slightly less than half that amount, making law the field with the widest income disparity between men and women.

"As with so many other fields, support staff in law tend to be more populated by women than by men, and those numbers bring down the statistical information on women's earnings," said Karen Mathis, president of the American Bar Association, in a statement. "That said, the ABA is aware that there are discrepancies between the earnings of women and men functioning at the same level in the legal profession." Ms. Mathis pointed out that full-time male lawyers were paid a median weekly salary of $1,748 last year, according to the Labor Department. Their female counterparts made $1,354.

Overall, men had inflation-adjusted median earnings of $41,400 last year, while the typical woman earned $31,900. That put the female-to-male earnings ratio at 77%, flat compared with a few years ago but up from 60% or so in 1980.

In ranking larger American cities, the Census Bureau found San Jose, Calif., and Plano, Texas, had the highest median incomes, at around $71,000, while Miami and Cleveland had the lowest, with median incomes below $25,000.

Cleveland also had the highest poverty rate for big cities at 32.4%, followed closely by Detroit, two cities suffering from the downturn in the American automobile industry and manufacturing. "We've been heavily reliant on the auto industry, and the Big Three are really struggling these days," said N. Charles Anderson, president and chief executive of the Detroit Urban League.

Most of the above data come from questionnaires sent to roughly three million American households per year. Here's how to look up the latest on your community: Go to http://factfinder.census.gov. Click on "get data" under American Community Survey. Be sure "2005" is selected, and click "data profiles." Use pull-down menus to select a geographic area. Click "show result." When demographic data appear, click on "economic" or "social" for more.

Write to Christopher Conkey at christopher.conkey@wsj.com

Height advantage of 4 inches equates to a 10 percent increase in wages

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/25/news/funny/tall.reut/index.htm?section=money_topstories

Study says tall people are smarter than their shorter peers.

August 27 2006: 10:48 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it's not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality -- tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds.

"As early as age three - before schooling has had a chance to play a role - and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests," wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The findings were based primarily on two British studies that followed children born in 1958 and 1970, respectively, through adulthood and a U.S. study on height and occupational choice.

Other studies have pointed to low self-esteem, better health that accompanies greater height, and social discrimination as culprits for lower pay for shorter people.

But researchers Case and Paxson believe the height advantage in the job world is more than just a question of image.

"As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns," wrote the researchers.

For both men and women in the United States and the United Kingdom, a height advantage of four inches equated with a 10 percent increase in wages.

But the researchers said the differences in performance crop up long before the tall people enter the job force. Prenatal care and the time between birth and the age of 3 are critical periods for determining future cognitive ability and height.

"The speed of growth is more rapid during this period than at any other during the life course, and nutritional needs are greatest at this point," the researchers wrote.

The research confirms previous studies that show that early nutrition is an important predictor of intelligence and height.

"Research on the determinants of cognitive ability suggests an important role for nutrition, which may well prove to be a significant link between height and intelligence," they wrote.

Agencies Are Watching as Ads Go Online

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/business/media/15adco.html?th&emc=th

AMONG the teenage video diaries, pet tricks and rejected television pilots circulating on the online video site YouTube, there is another major category of clips: advertisements. But in this case, the companies advertised do not pay for the ads, and they cannot predict when they will appear, or in what form.

Some of the ads are delivered straight to the Web from television. These commercials are popular or clever enough to gain traction on YouTube, which allows its users to post and view hundreds of millions of videos.

Other ads are homemade and crude takeoffs on popular ads that can look like low-budget short films. Still others are combinations of real and fake ads, cobbled together by taking clips of real commercials and adding amateur video shot in the backyard, at work or in the basement laundry room.

It is the mock ads that are capturing the attention of ad agencies, which are slowly becoming used to having their work transformed from a slick, polished television spot into a mock ad reminiscent of a spoof from “Saturday Night Live.”

“I consider it the highest form of flattery to show up on YouTube,” said Matt Lindley, an executive creative director at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, an advertising agency that is owned by Havas.

•Arnold created a campaign for Vonage, the nation’s largest Internet phone provider, that has made its way to YouTube in relatively large numbers. The original campaign, titled “Stupid Things,” is a video homage to daredevil stunts like those seen on the MTV series “Jackass.”

Since then, the easily imitated ads have inspired knockoffs on YouTube. At least 100 mock Vonage videos are currently posted on the site, and many have been viewed at least 5,000 times.

Each original Vonage commercial featured a grainy clip of a stunt, which the agency culled from the Internet or “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” accompanied by the infectious song “Woo Hoo.” (After the video clip, white lettering over a bright orange background reads: “People do stupid things. Like pay too much for phone service. Switch to Vonage.”)

The homemade Vonage ads on YouTube show people falling off chairs and jumping out of moving vehicles, as well as on-camera gaffes by politicians and television anchors. One Vonage video that was posted to YouTube on Sunday opens with a teenage boy banging his head against a wall, then rubbing his forehead and grimacing. (A caption accompanying the video explains, “People do stupid things, and I did one just for the sake of the movie.”)

Adding to the virtual clearinghouse for popular advertising that YouTube has become, mock commercials for brands like Apple, Dr Pepper and Burger King have popped up on the site, along with relentless send-ups of the ubiquitous MasterCard “Priceless” campaign.

But sometimes a commercial spoof on YouTube can take on a harder edge. Some videos have pointed out supposed flaws in a company’s product, like a fake Apple ad on YouTube that runs more than three minutes, six times the length of a standard television spot.

“One of the coolest features of the Macintosh is it’s really easy to shut down,” the man in the video said sardonically. “All you have to do is be using a piece of software and then, poof! It goes away. It’s gone. It shut down. You didn’t push any buttons, you didn’t close, you didn’t even save. It’s just gone.”

A fake Volkswagen commercial that circulated on the Web last year showed a man detonate a car bomb in his Volkswagen in front of a busy sidewalk cafe — not exactly the image Volkswagen had in mind.

“To a degree, it’s like brand terrorism on the Internet,” said Jeff Benjamin, the interactive creative director for Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the advertising agency that holds the Volkswagen account. “You have absolutely no control over stuff like that.”

•If an agency does not like a video circulating on YouTube, there isn’t much that can be done to stop it, Mr. Benjamin conceded.

“It’s a tough situation because as a brand you don’t want to go out there and censor people,” he said. “You just have to let it happen sometimes and be brave enough with the brand to give room for the good stuff to happen.”

Still, ad agencies can’t resist trying to manipulate sites like YouTube and Google Video to their own advantage.

Many agencies post their newly created ads on the sites, hoping that visitors will view the videos and e-mail them around. Crispin made longer cuts of commercials for Burger King that the agency posted only on YouTube and Google Video.

Some of the ads on YouTube that parodied the Vonage commercials were good enough to make Mr. Lindley of Arnold consider his future employment prospects: “When they get better than the stuff I make, I’ll be out of a job.”

Marketers Trace Paths Users Leave on Internet

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/technology/15search.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

If you use Yahoo’s Web search engine to learn about hybrid cars, the site will quietly note that you fit into a group of users it calls “Consciously Cruising.”

If you click on ads for moving van companies, you will join the “Home Hopping” group. Shop for wedding cakes and reception halls and you might be tagged as a future bride or groom.

Earlier this year, Yahoo introduced a computer system that uses complex models to analyze records of what each of its 500 million users do on its site: what they search for, what pages they read, what ads they click on. It then tries to show them advertisements that speak directly to their interests and the events in their lives.

Yahoo and the many other companies building similar systems say the systems are benign because they typically do not collect personal information like names and addresses.

“We are much more conservative than we need to be” in using information about site visitors, said Usama Fayyad, chief data officer at Yahoo.

Still, just how personal even “anonymous” information can be was shown vividly last week as a list of three months of search queries from 657,000 AOL customers began circulating online. Collectively, a person’s Web searches, it turns out, can create an eerily intimate portrait — one that some privacy advocates say should never be assembled and stored in the first place.

Still, Web companies continue refining their techniques. Advertising on search engines is already a $14-billion-a-year business because the ads can be so closely tied to what people are looking for. Yahoo’s system is meant to use search queries and other actions to select ads people see while checking their e-mail and reading other pages.

AOL is working on a similar system to display ads for products related to a person’s Web search history. MSN from Microsoft just introduced technology to do the same. Other companies use systems that bring together information about users from across many sites. Internet companies call this behavioral targeting, and it is based on the insight that knowing what people do online can be more valuable to a marketer than knowing how old they are or what they do for a living.

“Search behavior is the closest thing we have to a window onto people’s intent,” said Jeff Marshall, a senior vice president of Starcom IP, an advertising agency. “When people are gathering information to make a choice, that means they are often going to spend money.”

Many Internet users have no idea that records of their actions are being collected and used. They might find out about these practices only if they read the fine print of Web site privacy policies.

But AOL’s release of search data has already led some privacy advocates and legislators to call for new limits on how Web sites and advertisers keep and use information about online behavior.

AOL has apologized for the release, saying that its research unit had not been authorized to publish the records. It removed the data from its site, but copies are still available online.

Not all of the behavioral marketing involves search engines. Technology from companies like DoubleClick and AOL’s Advertising.com unit allows marketing messages to follow people around the Web.

Starwood Hotels, for example, alerts members of its frequent-guest program to new promotions by placing ads that will be shown only to people who have previously visited its Web site. These ads can find customers in unlikely places, like the vast social networking site MySpace.

While most MySpace users are more likely to spend money on soda and sneakers, some of the site’s 100 million members do stay in Starwood’s Westin or Sheraton hotels and will see the ads.

Cingular Wireless uses a similar approach to advertise to people who have started shopping for a phone.

“You are no longer targeting people you think will be interested in your product,” said Les Kruger, a senior marketing manager at Cingular. “We know based on your behavior that you are in the market, and we can target you as you bounce around the Internet.”

Most of these marketing systems use cookies, unique numbers that a Web site can place on a computer to spot return visitors. Cookies are also used by companies like Advertising.com that place ads and track visitors across many sites.

Shopping sites like Amazon.com use cookies to greet returning customers by name. But many of the targeting systems try to avoid recording personally identifiable information, like a person’s name and address.

How to Get to the Top of Search-Engine Results

http://www.startupjournal.com/ecommerce/ecommerce/20060814-horowitz.html

How to Get to the Top
Of Search-Engine Results

By ALAN S. HOROWITZ

A television commercial was once the biggest marketing coup for a small business. Today, getting your company listed in the first page of a search on Yahoo or Google can transform an also-ran into a front-runner.

For Baldwin/Welsh & Parker Insurance Agency in Wayland, Mass., the Web has become the firm's best source of sales leads, outside of direct referrals, because a high listing in search results attracts quality prospects.

"There's not a big downside if we're not listed high, but there's a big upside if we are," says the firm's principal, Dave D'Orlando.

Businesses can take some simple steps to improve the relevance of a Web site for search engines -- and traffic and hopefully business -- without spending lots of money on search-engine optimization. (StartupJournal will have tips on hiring a search-engine optimization consultant in a future article.)

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN send out spiders (also called bots or crawlers) to scour the Web and retrieve certain information from sites that is then analyzed using complex algorithms.

The spiders look for keywords that searchers tend to use, as well as how often they appear on a Web page. That is called word density, and generally you want 3% to 5% of the words (or phrases) on a page related to words people use for searching, recommends Dave Knight, manager and co-owner of dMedia LLC, a search-engine optimization and Web development agency in Park City, Utah.

If a page has 300 words, the keywords or phrases searchers would likely use should appear nine to 15 times on that page. For example, an auto-repair shop in Phoenix would add the keywords "auto," "cheap repairs," "24/7" and "Phoenix" to its home page to draw potential customers looking for low prices or late-night service.

Mr. D'Orlando focuses on selling home insurance in the town where his agency is located, so the phrase "Wayland, Massachusetts" appears in the title bar (the very top of Web browser), under the company's logo, and in the text of the firm's home page. The word "Wayland" also mentioned one more time.

"If you are looking for home insurance in Wayland, Massachusetts we would rank pretty high," says Mr. D'Orlando. The firm's site comes up second in Google's results for that search. However, those looking for home insurance who just type in "Massachusetts," will not likely find Mr. D'Orlando's site among the top results. That suits Mr. D'Orlando's strategy of specifically looking for home owners in the Wayland area.

The quantity of keywords counts as well.

"The most important thing is to make sure you have plenty of relevant content on your site," says Lynn Pilewski, owner of 1 Stop Sites, Taylors, S.C., a Web site and graphic design agency which created Mr. D'Orlando's Web site. "Be as in-depth in content as you can."

It's best to place the text in HTML code, which search-engine spiders can read, and not as Web graphics, which spiders can't read and won't boost the relevancy.

"The more pages the better, as long the content is relevant. Search engines love content," says Eric V. Melin, president of president of SpiderSplat Consulting, a search-engine marketing firm in Boston.

Get Results

Quick tips to improve your site's ranking in search-engine results:

• Add keywords
• Use metatags
• Get other sites to link to your page
• Be an authority
• Be patient

Also use metatags, which are hidden data written into a site's HTML that provide information about a page, such as its title and description. Spiders often rely on these metatags to index pages, notes Russell Klein, director of emerging technology research at Aberdeen Group, Boston.

A Web site's authority is determined by how many other sites link to it.

"The number one factor in most algorithms is how important or authoritative you appear to others," says Mr. Melin. "If you sell books online, you want to get as many people as possible to link to you."

The more prestigious the site linking to yours, the better. "If Amazon is linking to Joe's bookstore, Joe becomes more prominent," notes Mr. Melin. There is reflected glory when you are linked to from a well known site, and your site's importance to search engines goes up, he says.

How do you get other sites to link to yours? Respond to postings on popular blogs so they mention your Web page, recommends Aberdeen's Mr. Klein. Google, in particular, searches blogs for references to other sites, he says.

Contact Web masters of relevant sites and ask for a link-up. SpiderSplat's Mr. Melin says you should go to vendors, partners, clients, customers -- anyone you can think who has a site relevant to yours -- and arrange reciprocal links.

IFREC Real Estate Schools, Orlando, Fla. has reciprocal arrangements with about 50 real-estate brokers. Robin Shumate, vice president of business affairs, says the brokers' Web sites refer potential students to IFREC and, in return, IFREC refers students to the brokers so they know who is hiring. The school's site also is linked to from RealtyU, a national network of real-estate schools. Ms. Shumate says these links help boost IFREC to the top, or near the top, of search rankings.

She says hits on IFREC's Web site increased 37% in 2004, 39% in 2005 and are expected to increase 35% to 39% this year. While she can't quantify exactly how much of this is a result of search-engine optimization, she believes much of it is.

Another way to increase your credibility to search engines is to get mentioned in articles or have press releases related to your business distributed by news services.

"Any way that you can get as many possible Web sites in the world pointing to yours increases your chances of ranking highly," says Mr. Klein.

Higher rankings do not come immediately, no matter what you do. There may be weeks between visits by spiders to your Web site. Also, the algorithms used by the search engines are constantly changing, and that may call for some tweaking to a Web site. Experts say it may take as long as six to nine months to move near the top of a search.

Beware the search-engine consultant that promises to boost search rankings quickly. "If a company promises that you will be at a certain ranking within a certain amount of time, run from them. It's not possible," warns Ms. Pilewski. Of course, if you have a bizarre search term -- Part Number 2438, for example -- you may quickly move to the top. But, generally, it takes time and work to get to the first page of rankings.

Mr. Horowitz is a free-lance technology writer based in Morris Plains, N.J.