The Bottle And The Data Genie; Facebook Phone

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The Bottle And The Data Genie

In a piece on web privacy in the New York Times’ Sunday edition, behavioral economist Alessandro Acquisti from Carnegie Mellon University tells the NYT in a series of anecdotes, studies and statements that consumers don’t undestand whats happening with their data on the Web. Acquisti reasons, “I reveal my date of birth and hometown on my Facebook profile and an identity thief can reconstruct my Social Security number and steal my identity, or someone can send me ‘happy birthday’ messages on the day of my birthday, which makes me feel very good.” Read more.

Mobile Insights

Venture Beat’s Rakesh Agrawal called on four brands (Pandora, The Weather Channel, Sephora, Trulia) to weigh in on the mobile ad monetization challenge. “There are still too many buyers focused on clicks,” Alex Linde, VP of digital and mobile apps at The Weather Channel, tells Agrawal. To uncover the “true ROI of mobile” Linde continues, agencies must connect all their metrics “across screens.” Read more.

Facebook+Android

Speculation is mounting as to what Facebook will unveil next week after inviting the press to “Come See Our New Home On Android.” TechCrunch’s Josh Constine notes that the “evidence aligns to say this is the Facebook Phone announcement people have been speculating about for years.” Other rumors include a beefed up application layer and a Facebook-themed homescreen. More.

Ad-Free Zones?

Selling ads for a small-to medium-sized site isn’t as easy as it seems, and some publishers are opting for simple paywalls and donations in lieu of ad support. AdAge’s Matt Creamer does an informal survey that includes media news maven Jim Romenesko, who concedes that his work is now a “retirement hobby,” and has relied on donations and Google AdSense. Others like Lisa Hickey, CEO of Good Men Media, which runs opinion pieces about the state of manhood, was disillusioned after hitting 1 million monthly uniques and seeing little return. “The CPMs slowly go down [on banner ads],” she says. “The number of ads we have to put on the site to break even goes up. It’s a balancing act that doesn’t get us to where we need to go.” Read the rest.

Reddit Relevance

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Hold On, Holdcos; Rags To Riches

Reddit, that online volcano of meme-spewing activity, appears to be less and less of a digital trendsetter. PandoDaily’s David Holmes cites an academic study that says more than half of Reddit’s front page links have circulated elsewhere before, suggesting a burgeoning relevance problem. And it’s something that should give social media marketers pause, as Holmes observes: “Unless you reward users for sharing content, they’ll be nothing more than passive content consumers. And without engaging in your community, don’t be surprised when they switch loyalties at the drop of a hat.” Read more.

DMP Gets Loan

Data management platform Lotame has perhaps decided it doesn’t want to give away any more equity – at least, for now. The company has entered into a “venture loan” agreement with Horizon Technology Finance for a $5.5 million loan. According to the release, “Lotame plans to strengthen global initiatives across five continents, and make key hiring decisions to expand the sales, technology, and executive teams.” Read more. A bridge to the next round of financing or to being acquired by some unnamed company down the road?

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