Microsoft is trying to make ads in Hotmail better. The company is replacing conventional display ads in its webmail service with deal ads that it believes will be more relevant and interesting to users. Not all Hotmail users will see the new ads immediately. Microsoft is doing a pilot in which it's testing consumer response to deals ads vs. traditional email display ads in selected cities. However, Dharmesh Mehta, Director for the Windows and Windows Live Business Group, believes users will prefer the new ads to the old. He's interested in delivering a "less distracting ad" to users. He [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Features & Analysis | Microsoft | Microsoft: Mobile | Statistics: Email Marketing | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Top News

Yesterday afternoon both Google and Microsoft released quarterly earnings. Google posted its highest gross revenues to date but missed analysts' Q4 expectations. Microsoft posted $20.89 billion in fiscal Q2 revenue (calendar Q4) and came in above analyst expectations. Overall, Microsoft's top-line was 5 percent above last year. All lines of business saw revenue growth vs. last year except Windows, which posted a decline. The following was the performance of the various divisions: Microsoft Business Division (Office): $6.28 billion in second quarter revenue, a 3 percent increase vs last [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Microsoft | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Mobile

Welcome to the big leagues, Windows Phone. You're now being recognized as an operating system by Google Analytics, rather than being generically reported as "not set." WP Sauce noted the change this week and alerted us to it. However, it appears to be something that happened back on November 15. I found Windows Phone appearing in several Google Analytics accounts I checked as of that date. Here's an example of it beginning to be found in one account: Unfortunately, we cannot see which devices are being used with Windows Phone. This information could be very useful when optim [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Microsoft: Mobile | Mobile Marketing | Top News

Some numbers released yesterday by NPD Group suggested that the iPhone was regaining some of the market share it had recently lost to Android. According to the firm's data, Q4 US smartphone sales look like the following: NPD also said that iPhone incarnations constituted the top three devices sold in Q4, followed by Samsung and HTC (Android): iPhone 4S iPhone 4 iPhone 3GS Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Samsung Galaxy S HTC Inspire 4G These sales figures are reinforced by recent ChangeWave US consumer survey data (n=4,000) asking would-be smartphone buyers what device they're mo [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Apple: iPhone | Channel: Mobile Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google: Android | Microsoft: Mobile | Statistics: Mobile Marketing | Statistics: Popularity & Usage | Top News

If you were expecting big news from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's final CES keynote, forget it. "Windows Store" for applications is coming in February. Aside from that, his conversation-style keynote with Ryan Seacrest was more a recap than a big look forward. "In 2012, what's next? Metro, Metro, Metro, and, of course, Windows, Windows, Windows," Ballmer said, when Seacrest asked him at the end of the talk about things to come. The "Metro" user interface, those tile-like objects familiar to anyone who knows Windows Phone, was shown working on the forthcoming Window 8 operating system [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Mobile | Mobile Marketing | Top News