The political ad, put out by the campaign of Michigan’s Pete Hoekstra, aims to use the issue of government spending to swipe at his opponent – not an uncommon topic for a campaign ad in today’s political climate. But it’s the way in which he’s presenting the message that has spurred the controversy.

Pete Hoekstra, a Republican, is a former Michigan Congressman who is running for the GOP Senate nomination. His would-be opponent is Democrat Debbie Stabenow, a two-term incumbent. Hoekstra’s Super Bowl ad, which only ran in Michigan, features an Asian woman, strings of broken English, rice fields, and the message that Senator Stabenow’s practices are helping China grow, while hurting Americans.

Check it out below:

Hoekstra labels Senator Stabenow “DebbieSpendItNow,” and you can see from the commercial why some folks find it a bit over the line: “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie SpendItNow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie SpendItNow.”

The backlash has been pretty severe. The LA Times quotes the Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote group as saying:

[We're} deeply disappointed. [It] plays on harmful stereotypes of Asians speaking broken English and has stereotypical Chinese music playing in the background. It is very disturbing that Mr. Hoekstra’s campaign chose to use harmful and negative stereotypes that intrinsically encourage anti-Asian sentiment.

Michigan politicians have called the ad “shameful” and said that his tactics are “ignorant and bigoted.”

And even some GOP colleagues are calling Hoekstra out for the ad. A Michigan GOP consultant said “Stabenow has got to go. But shame on Pete Hoekstra for that appalling new advertisement. Racism and xenophobia aren’t any way to get things done.”

And Mike Murphy had this to say:

But Hoekstra isn’t backing down, in the slightest.

We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this. But this is a time where the people in Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending, and we wanted to capture that frustration that they had with Washington, D.C.,” he said. “This ad … hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes on the issue where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan, and that is spending

And on Twitter:

He’s also still standing behind this donation website (debbiespenditnow.com):

What do you guys think? Is the campaign ad fair play? Or is it racist and way over the line? Let us know in the comments.

And during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, Samsung allowed Apple fans to break free in a pretty awesome way.

In a 90-second spot called “A Thing Called Love,” Apple users standing in a line are lamenting the fact that they are missing the big game to wait on their product of choice. Suddenly, a wild Galaxy Note appears – and it has a stylus!

The ad quickly transitions into a rousing performance of one of the most energetic tracks to dominate your radio in 2003: “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. (We’re assuming that Jet was busy).

Check it out below:

The ad was directed by Bobby Farrelly, you might know him better as one of the brothers that comprise the Farrelly brothers. You can thank them for classics like There’s Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber.

While portraying Apple fans as brainwashed hipsters is always rather fun, I believe that the most common response to the ad (other than “Holy Sh-t, it’s The Darkness”) was “A stylus?” And of course, this is based on the unscientific study of everyone at my Super Bowl party.

Anyway, the Galaxy Note began pre-orders on Super Bowl Sunday. It will launch in stores on February 19th.

What did you think of the commercial? Effective? Are Apple fans really brainwashed? Would you really use a stylus? Why don’t you let us know the answers to these burning questions in the comments.

Check out a preview of “The Bark Side,” set to run during the big game between the 49ers and the Steelers. Oh, wait, the Steelers are out of it? I almost forgot about them losing to the Denver Tebows – my mistake. Carry on:

Dogs, the Imperial March and an AT-AT cameo? What’s not to love? The video is well on its way to becoming a viral mega-hit with nearly 500K views as of the writing of this article.

Of course, the legendary viral smash that this video looks to match is last year’s “The Force” ad. You remember that adorable little kid in the Vader costume, right? To refresh your memory:

“The Bark Side” has a long way to go to match “The Force,” which has over 48.6 million views on YouTube. It might not be as good as this rejected Doritos ad, but I’d say it has a chance, what do you think?

It appears that Apple is well-aware of that fact, as they have based their first iPhone 4S commercial around Siri.

The ad demonstrates the wide variety of ways in which Siri can assist iPhone 4S users. In the ad, Siri aids people in fixing a flat tire, tying a bowtie, finding the nearest hospital, checking the weather, setting reminders, scheduling meetings, setting alarms, playing some Coltrane, finding a locksmith and, of course, discovering what a weasel looks like. It’s an effective ad that shows all the real word uses of Siri.

Check it out below:

Of course, Siri can help you out with real-life problems, but people are finding out that Siri can be a pretty good source of entertainment as well. Users have been having a blast by asking Siri questions that you might call “off the beaten path,” like “Siri, open the pod bay doors.” In perfect reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Siri sometimes responds “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

More on those little Easter Eggs here.

It’s not all fun and games for Siri, however, as a couple of problems have already sprung up regarding its functionality. Various YouTube videos have confirmed that Siri isn’t that great at deciphering English spoken with certain accents – most notably Scottish and Japanese.

And Siri also provides a slight security risk. We learned that by default, Siri can bypass your iPhone’s passcode to perform tasks like sending emails, texts and making calls. This can easily be remedied by turning off Siri functionality for locked devices, but the fact that it is able bypass the lock by default is troubling to some users.

Have you had a chance to interact with Siri? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

In these times, effective, quantifiable marketing is critical. Marketing managers must find new ways to reach, engage, and persuade wary consumers to buy their products or services. There is less room for error; big gambles on traditional media buys are too risky in this environment and recent budget cuts put large, TV-network ad buys out of reach for many companies. Combine this with more demand for accountability from each marketing dollar spent and it’s no wonder that ad dollars are moving online where a wealth of metrics show customer engagement levels in real-time. However, affordable pay-per-click marketing and banner ads come with a heavy trade-off, as marketing managers soon realize they lack the emotional branding power of TV advertising.

That’s where online video comes in. The new frontier in the advertising landscape, online video offers the same emotional engagement of TV advertising, without the hefty price tag of a thirty-second spot. Video can explain unique product features, bring a hands-on experience to shopping, and put a human face on the corporate brand far better than static text or images.

Low risk and high reward, online video offers a unique opportunity to engage customers, while retaining the measurability of other online marketing options. And, unlike TV advertising that blankets millions of eyes with the same message, online ads can target highly specific groups of people with very particular needs. After all, the Internet is a micro-media world in which millions of niche audiences make up the greater universe.

Understanding the Internet’s ultra-fragmented reality is vital to effective online video. On the Internet generic ads fall on deaf ears. Gimmicky sales pitches are rejected outright. Instead, online ads must deliver relevant information that engages users who choose to hear what you have to say.

Think about it. With millions of options right at customer’s fingertips, having a good product or service is no longer enough. Video that shares compelling stories and resonates with the audience on an emotional level is what works on the Internet, and what convinces consumers to buy even in this economic climate.

Advertisements that feature real people and their stories are proving to be highly effective – whether it’s a designer detailing the passion that goes in to producing the furniture and lighting products of a renowned brand, a pastry chef showing the care that goes into every tart, or a hotel concierge talking about the local highlights of their city. These narrative, documentary-style videos forgo scripts, actors, and stock footage and instead capture authentic, intimate stories told by the very people behind the business.

In addition to meeting the informational needs of viewers, these ads offer an additional benefit in a down economy. Reducing the reliance on sets, actors, and large production crews, narrative video not only lends a more genuine feel to advertising, but also dramatically cuts the costs associated with traditional production. In fact, high quality narrative ads can be produced at costs as low as $2,000-$5,000 per finished video.

This new affordable production model works for the marketing manager facing shrinking advertising budgets. It also enables companies to create multiple, highly-targeted content pieces that resonate with the many niche audiences found online.

While today’s economy is certainly tough for business, Internet video and affordable production models empower companies to make the most of each marketing dollar – combining the accountability of the Internet with the emotional power of television. Yet unlike traditional media, relevance-driven, not campaign-driven, ads find success on the Web and drive potential customers to action.

Well, more or less – I can’t promise that those exact scenarios will take place.  But an article in The Guardian indicated that the search engine giant is moving in this direction.  “Google has drawn up plans to compile psychological profiles of millions of web users by covertly monitoring the way they play online games,” wrote David Adam and Bobbie Johnson.

The plans are evident in two recent patent filings (one each in America and Europe); they indicate that Google might not only look at “user play” (as imagined in the first paragraph), but also at “user dialogue” – what you would say to another player or non-player character.

Creepy, no?  And some privacy advocates feel the same way, but Search Engine Land’s Bill Slawski noted, “To me, this is just like the Gmail ad debate, which has died down since they first launched.”

The search engine company has also assured gamers that there’s no reason to worry.  “Google said it did not have any plans to roll out the technology in the near future,” testified Adam and Johnson, “and that it was just one of a large number of patents that it has filed in recent months.”

So don’t worry.  Your search engine and email provider – the giant corporation that has the government’s ear – isn’t coming to view you as a homicidal maniac – yet.

Many webmasters have built content websites around the Google AdSense model. In many cases the specific intent of the webmaster is to profit from Google AdSense Other webmasters use Google AdSense to supplement their revenue. Regardless of the webmaster’s intent, the following tips will help webmasters looking to profit from AdSense.

Top AdSense Tips:

1. Niche Sites.

Targeted niche sites that have a clear theme, tend to generate more advertising revenue simply because it is easier to achieve decent search engine placement. Be warned though, you want to chose a niche where there is a sufficient number of advertisements available.

2. Target Keywords.

When determining the sites focus, consider how much the advertisers pay for the advertisements. If the site is focused on ringtones, like Ringtone Central http://www.ringtones-central.com the payout per click is going to be very small, as ringtones are not high ticket items, advertisers will not spend a lot on pay per click advertisements. With less obvious markets use Overture to determine how much advertisers pay per keyword, it is usually similar on Google. Search Overture for a keyword then click “View Advertisers’ Max Bids” in the top right corner. This will show the Overture inventory and how much is paid per keyword. Because the market has become very competitive, it will be difficult to rank well in search engines with a new website that is optimized for the terms that have the highest payout. Consider targeting terms that are moderately priced.

3. Aged Sites / Time.

Over time as a website is spidered by Google, advertisements will generally increase in relevance. In general, older websites will rank better in search engines. The closer the advertisements relate to the webpage’s content; the higher the “click-through” the publishers will see.

4. Coding.

In order to minimize a websites maintenance place the Google generated AdSense code in the website template or an include file. This will allow you to easily experiment with different advertisement sizes and ad placement, and keep the web maintenance to a minimum.

5. Tracking Channels.

In order to know how effective a specific website or ad placement is use distinct channels and subchannels within Google. This will allow you to discern what performs best on a specific website. Using channels will tell you what sites are making money, what advertisements are making money and what ad position is the most profitable on a specific website. Keep in mind that you should run an advertisement for a full week, in order to properly test its effectiveness, different days of the week will vary the web traffic so comparing one week to another will give the most accurate reflection of how effective a campaign performs.

When testing different advertisement sizes, placement or color schemes be sure to leave campaigns in place for one week, different days will often result in web traffic fluctuations. Comparing web traffic, week to week will give a clear indication of what ad formats perform the best.

6. Integrated Ad Placement.

Many webmasters have been successful at integrating advertisements into a website. The easiest way to integrate an advertisement into a website is to remove the advertisement border. This will allow the ads to better blend with the webpage. Google recommends contrasting the link colors with the website colors to increase click-throughs. It is also suggested that webmasters randomize the color of the advertisements, so that frequent users will not naturally “filter” the ads.

example of integrated ad placement:

http://www.golf-clubhouse.net or

http://www.security-protection.net

7. Number vs Value of Advertisements.

Up to three advertisements can be listed on each page. This decreases the value of the advertisements served, so publishers should cautiously add advertisement units, as it dilutes ad inventory. In other words you want to serve the most expensive ads at all times.

8. Hot Spots.

Like web copy above the fold holds true with AdSense as well. This means that advertisements that appear without having to scroll will be read more frequently. Hot Spots are areas on a web page that result in a higher percentage of click-throughs. According to Google the highest paying advertisements are located on the hot spots.

hot spots map –

http://www.small-business-software.net/heat-map.htm

Google does not indicate if image advertisements or text ads perform better, so webmasters are encouraged to experiment with both.

9. Highest performing Ad Sizes.

According to Google the 336 x 280 rectangle, the 300 x250 rectangle and the 160 x 600 sky scraper result in the highest number of click-throughs. Depending on the website’s design and layout, publishers may experience different results with different ad sizes, placements and color schemes. Expirement and track the results for each website to maximize the AdSense payout.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers.

The two obvious contenders that publishers are considering to profit from their RSS feeds are: subscription RSS feeds and RSS feed advertisements.

Subscriptions.

Subscription feeds are designed so that subscription fees are charged for unique quality content. Publishers include teaser copy in the RSS feed and readers have to purchase a subscription to see the content in its entirety. The New York Times was the first to introduce the subscription model. Initially the NY Times faced some resentment from users who had become accustom to free RSS based content, but ultimately consumers realize that businesses must achieve profits in order to continue.

The greater the value of the content contained in the feed and the uniqueness of the content will determine the success of subscription based feeds. Simply put, if readers can obtain the same quality and quantity of content from an alternative free source they will. Not unlike magazines, if the content the publisher is providing is unique and valuable, the subscription model will flourish.

Advertisements.

The web has undergone a number of revisions to online advertising models. Banner ads, once an effective way to generate valuable leads are screened or filtered by most novice users. Text ads have become common place and are far less effective than they once were, advertising in RSS feeds was a natural step for online advertisers.

Contextual advertisements or advertisements that relate to the webpage or RSS feed’s content, achieve the highest rate of success. As a result both advertisers and content providers should critically evaluate advertisement placement systems to determine which system produces the highest relevance in contextually based advertisements.

Google AdSense provides contextually relevant ads while Pheedo provides related category feeds. Publishers need to determine which model will produce advertisements that are relevant to the RSS feed’s content and actionable by feed readers.

Hybrid Advertisements.

Other hybrid alternatives for profiting from RSS feeds include optionally giving subscribers the choice. A small fee for many might give subscribers the option to pay for the feed ad-free or view advertisements in the feed. The business model is reminiscent of adware in its infancy where users could use software for an unlimited amount of time. The software had imbedded advertisements and publishers were compensated for ad impressions or click-throughs. If users preferred an ad free version of the software they could purchase a registered copy that would remove the imbedded advertisements. More on Advertising in Feeds with a comparison of ad serving technologies. http://www.feedforall.com/advertising-in-rss.htm

Advertising online is constantly evolving. Both content publishers and advertisers are adapting and evaluating new advertising models. RSS feed subscriptions and advertising are merely a step in the evolution of online advertising. Knowing your audience will help publishers determine the most effective model for profiting from content contained in an RSS feed.

Publishers are evaluating options and determining how they can profit from RSS feeds. The two obvious contender publishers who are considering to profit from their RSS feeds are: subscription RSS feeds and RSS feed advertisements.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers.

At the end of the day while it appears that many are discussing the philosophical approaches to ads in RSS feeds few are taking the time to examine the options available for inserting advertisements in feeds. Ultimately the advertisements served are going to determine the success of RSS as an advertising medium. The ads served must be related to the content contained in the feed. If the RSS feed contains quality content, the ads are relevant, and the volume of ads is in balance with the volume of content served, advertising in RSS feeds will succeed. Take a closer look at some of the ad serving options currently available for RSS feeds.

Review of Current OptionsGoogle AdSense for Feeds Google’s AdSense for Feeds offers contextually targeted advertisements, with a wide selection of advertisers. Google chooses not to divulge the percentage of revenue that is shared with the publisher, so it is difficult if not impossible to predict monthly revenue. The current Google AdSense system for feeds is tied to blogs and does not appear to be overly flexible. http://www.google.com/adsense

Pheedo Pheedo displays categorized advertisements rather than contextual advertisements. The upside to this is that Pheedo’s advertisements can be used in conjunction with Google AdSense or AdSense for feeds without violating Google’s contract. Pheedo works with the publisher to serve advertisements from similar or related categories associated with the feeds contents.

Pheedo’s system allows for advanced ad filtering, giving publishers control over keyword ad filtering, specific ad filtering or url filtering. Pheedo’s system also allows publishers to sell ads to existing advertisers whom they already have a relationship. The revenue split is 50% and feeds can be a sponsored flat rate advertisement or a pay-per-click advertisement, where the publisher is only paid if the advertisement is clicked. http://www.pheedo.com

Kanoodle for Feeds Kanoodles systems for providing advertisements for feeds is similar to Google’s but they do not have the breadth of advertisers that Google boasts. Advertisements are served based on topics, not to keywords. Kanoodle shares 50% of the revenue generated from the advertisements with the publisher serving the ad. http://www.kanoodle.com

Evaluating Options When evaluating feed ad serving solutions consider the following:

1. Ad Relevance

In order to generate revenue from RSS advertisements or for an advertising campaign to succeed using RSS as a channel. It is absolutely critical that the advertisements served in the feed contain related content, the more related the content the higher the likelihood that the advertisements will be of interest to the reader and clicked. Also the closer the content relates to the feeds theme the higher the likelihood the reader will have genuine interest in the product or service being advertised.

2. Ad Ratio

Publishers need to retain control over the frequency of advertisements. Readers will become frustrated with feeds that are heavily laden with advertisements and genuine content. The advertiser is happy as they are reaching a targeted audience the publisher is happy because their advertisement is being clicked and generating revenue.

3. Clearly Denoted as Ads

The debate over editorial control and advertisements rage on. It is generally considered proper net etiquette for publishers to clearly mark advertisements to distinguish them from editorial web content. When selecting a RSS advertising partner consider the context in which the advertisements are displayed. Does it blend with the feed or site, while still being clearly marked sponsored material? Or does the content blend so well that it appear as a product or service endorsement from the publisher? Credibility and reputation online matter, and the segregation of advertisements and ensuring they are properly denoted as such will go a long way to enhance credibility with readers.

Clearly as RSS increases in popularity publishers are looking for ways to monetize their content. RSS in advertising is a logical step, and striking a balance between quality, consistent content and occasional related advertisements will lead to the success of advertising in RSS feeds. If the balance is not found, publishers may be forced to move to a subscription RSS feed model.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers.