ADVERTISING & MARKETING  It's no secret that some Australian websites continue to report traffic from their automatically refreshed web pages, even though the inclusion of this traffic is condemned by sectors of the industry because in most cases it significantly inflates the figures used in the market. To this point, the MFA have recently sent a letter to their media-buying members warning them about wasting money on auto-refreshing websites that could be serving ads that are never seen. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  I recently realised how far the digital media industry has come in becoming obsessed with numbers. Numbers that we do not always understand. Whether it is an agency looking for rate card reductions, a publisher looking to grow their users, a network trying to hit a sales figure, we are all striving for a number. But are we adding value to the outcomes along the way? Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  I receive on average 4 to 5 job applications per week, every week of the year. 90% come via email. About 70% are actually addressed to me (rather than Dear Sir/Madam). Over 90% seem to be carbon copies of the same resume format, with the same information / qualifications. 99.5% get placed in an email file for future reference. Funny thing is, despite having a growing agency and hiring numerous staff over the last few years only one of these people has even gotten an interview. Why? Two reasons I can think of: Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  Marketing to kids online is a sensitive subject. In large part, this is because unscrupulous operators have been known to engage in the exploitation of personal details and privacy; preying on the unsuspecting, including kids. This article doesn't deal with that subject, but it does deal with what is required to build a successful following on a website aimed at kids, including how to handle disclosure. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  85,000 apps now available and rising fast. These have been downloaded more than 1.8 billion times. So why all the fuss? Well its not an exaggeration to say that Apps are driving the next wave in communications and commerce. Mobile platforms have already opened the door to a rapid development of the mobile phone. It is evolving as a remote control for ever expanding types of real-time cloud-based services, including emerging category of location-based services, creating opportunities and empowering consumers in unprecedented and transformative ways. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  So its a year since the big crash of 2008. For many businesses its been a year of pain, staff cut-backs, revised budgets and knife-edge survival. Last year, as it became apparent that the economy was about to go down the toilet, I opined that we were experiencing a turning point in media and marketing history. Old media models were under threat, new media was on the rise. Media consumption habits were changing rapidly and savvy marketers were aware of this. I suggested that the looming economic crisis would only hasten these changes. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  Bart Jawien from Talent and Initiatives Agency 'Transfer', gives a $1500 big cheque Zuji travel voucher to James Stanton at razor. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  The future of successful marketing is relevance. Interruption marketing is under threat. Customers are in control. You best give them what they're looking for. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  It's been widely reported over the last 24 hours that in the UK digital adspend has finally overtaken TV. That is what research by the IAB in the UK has uncovered. In the first half of 2009 internet advertising weathered the recession and grew by 4.6% to £1,752.1m, despite the entire advertising sector contracting by 16.6% during the same period. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  Insqribe is an Australian owned and developed platform that offers real time proximity marketing via QR codes and Augmented Reality (AR). Marketers can insert their campaigns into the AR world generated by an Insqribe iPhone application and users can see the campaigns appear on their phone as they walk around shopping districts or centres. Read on