WebProNews

Realty Company Sues Craigslist Over User-Generated Ads

Craigslist is reportedly being sued for trademark infringement. A real estate company in Texas called First Call Properties is saying that it began posting ads on Craigslist in March, and that after that, a competitor called AAA Apartment Locating began posting ads using phrases like "first call," "call first," and "call us first."

7 Behavioral Targeting Privacy Principles

Today a group of key trade groups released comprehensive privacy principles for use and collection of behavioral data in online advertising. These are self-regulatory principles to protect consumer privacy in ad-supported interactive media that will require advertisers and Web sites to clearly inform consumers about data collection practices and enable them to exercise control over that information.

Google Launches New, Cheaper AdWords API

Google has launched a new version of the AdWords API. The company says this version offers more speed, scale, and flexibility to developers at a lower cost. The AdWords API lets developers build apps that interact with the AdWords platform. With the API, users can:

Search Engine Ads More Helpful Than Banner Ads

Over one-third of Americans (37%) say that television ads are the most helpful in making their purchase decision while 17 percent say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14 percent say the same about Internet search engine ads, according to a new AdweekMedia/Harris Poll.

Mobile Marketing Will Likely Become Unavoidable

A recent study showed that spending for mobile advertising was expected to reach over $760 million in 2009. That's about 20% more than last year. Do you dedicate any portion of your budget to mobile marketing? Let WebProNews readers know.

Better Ad Targeting on Facebook with Keyword Suggestions

Facebook has begun offering keyword suggestions for it's ads. This could go a long way to help advertisers better target Facebook users. When a user goes to create an ad on Facebook, they begin the process by designing the ad. Here they select the landing page, the ad copy, and an optional image. Then they are presented with the targeting section, which now features the keyword suggestions.

YouTube Advertising Options Expand

Links within YouTube ads have, until now, done little more than send viewers to other YouTube videos.  And so they've represented the equivalent of infomercials that didn't supply telephone numbers - the home audience is only encouraged to keep watching, not complete a purchase.  But new Call-to-Action overlays address this issue. Advertisers can now get their YouTube ads to link to other sites.  The option doesn't cost anything extra, and it's been made about as simple as can be.

Online Publishers On Board For Bigger Ads

The Online Publishers Association (OPA) announced today a group of brands that have started using its new larger ad units across OPA member sites. The new ad units were originally announced in March with the goal of boosting creative advertising online that meets the needs of marketers by better integrating their messages. A total of 37 OPA member companies are making the units available, up from the 24 originally announced.

Yahoo Getting Rid of Maven Video Business

In February, 2008, Yahoo acquired Maven Networks for $160 million. Maven is a supplier of online video players and video advertising tools. A year and a half later, Yahoo is already ditching it. The company has said that it is planning to "wind down its customer base."

Ads Convert Better on Bing Than on Live Search?

Online marketing firm the Search Agency says that based on analysis of its own accounts, Microsoft search ads appear to be performing better since Bing launched.  The firm looked at the final three weeks of Live Search's existence, and the first three of Bing's.