Casual Games Advertising
The NYTimes has a good update concerning my new industry: More Marketers Are Grabbing the Attention of Players During Online Games.
Some interesting highlights:
In December, about 65.9 million people played online games, which include puzzle games and action video games. That was up 13 percent from December 2005, when 58.4 million clicked online for a quick round, according to comScore Networks, an Internet research firm. While traditional action games still draw more men than women, casual games are more popular with women and offer the kind of friendly online experience that ad executives say companies want to be associated with.
…
“Within AOL, games is only second to e-mail and I.M. as far as time spent per user, so you’re talking about a very highly engaged audience,” Mr. Rivera said. “Any time you have a highly engaged audience, you have advertisers who are looking to get in front of that audience.”
…
One appealing aspect of casual games is that players often start friendly dialogues with each other, and brands can associate themselves with that community building…
Swiss Miss
I recently changed jobs, and have returned to a company that provides small perks like free soft drinks, chips, and Swiss Miss. Sometimes the small perks have big impacts, especially when they are taken away. It’s amazing what taking away Green Tea and Swiss Miss had at my last company, the bad feelings for the savings of a few hundred bucks.
It’s not quite the free beer and bagels during the Dot Com Boom, but it’s a good start. I also like the coffee machine uses Green Mountain instead of Flavia. Finally some decent coffee in the office.
iPottie
Apple products, yet to be invented. Some very funny stuff in here. From the Worth1000 contest page:
Apple Inc. made their mark in the computer arena. They revolutionized the music player industry, and now they’re poised to take over the phone market. What will Steve and the gang come up with next?
For this contest, you’re required to sneak us into Apple’s R&D facility and show us what new products they are currently giving the patented “Apple” look. iToaster? iFork? iBus? iPencil sharpener? You tell us.
As always, have fun, be creative!, avoid cliches, and follow the guidelines please. You will have 48 hours to submit so make your entry count!
Note: Apple-style advertisements are allowed.
As seen from Pogue’s The iToaster, the iWatch and the iRon? and Design Sojourn. And ironically enough, Fred Wilson also posted about a throne.
NJ Barbie
Very funny junk email posted on Hoboken411 about the NJ Barbie’s.
Hoboken Barbie
This collagen injected, rhino plastic Barbie wears a leopard print outfit and drinks cosmopolitans while entertaining friends. Percocet prescription available as well as warehouse conversion condo.Another site mentioned a different iteration of the list. I didn’t quite agree since there is nowhere to park.
They said:
3. Hoboken-Jersey City Barbie
This yuppie Barbie comes with choice of a BMW sports car or a souped up Hummer 2, which cruises until 2:00 am.
Condos Are for Rent
This NYTimes article on Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent, has been something I have been looking to hear about.
Since the middle of 2006, the frenzied condominium market here [DC] and in several other big cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Boston has collapsed. Once roaring sales have slowed to a trickle, sparse inventory has mushroomed into a glut and soaring prices have flattened out and started falling.
But the impact on the NYC area has not been the same:
One of the few exceptions to the trend is in Manhattan, particularly at the high end. Condo and co-op sales increased to 2,441 in the fourth quarter, from 1,574 a year ago, and inventory was relatively flat at 5,900, said Jonathan J. Miller, an appraiser. Much of the increase can be attributed to a legal change in how sales of co-ops are recorded, but Mr. Miller said a 5.5 percent drop in prices from the third quarter also helped.
My impression in Hoboken is that demand is still strong for Condo’s, but the prices have leveled off.
iPhone
I want.
- OS X
- 2-megapixel camera
- 4 ($499) or 8GB ($599) versions
- 3.5-inch, 160-pixel per inch patented touch screen
- 11.6mm thin
- Cingular in July
Lots of peeps covering this: Om, Engadget, TechCrunch, Jason.
vFlyer and Online Classifieds
For a change, I didn’t get exposed to a new nifty site from Om, TechCrunch or other feeds I read daily. I instead was surfing for a new place to live and saw a property using vFlyer and liked what I saw (both the house and the site).
The site makes it easy to create good looking classifieds without too much trouble. I would still like to see some better integration with maps and a bit better job displaying many photos, given how nicely images have rollover thumbnails, but overall the ads look great.
Looking around I also came across a related and interesting article on the Online Classifieds Market Overview by Alex Iskold, that really breaks down the various players in the market.
2006 Stats
First off, Happy New Year! May it be a wonderful and fulfilling year. Tis the season to summarize last year, so here are my humble stats for last year.
My number of posts per month:
Jan: 12
Feb: 12
Mar: 17
Apr: 7
May: 4
Jun: 7
Jul: 7
Aug: 18
Sep: 14
Oct: 9
Nov: 6
Dec: 11
Average of 10.3 posts per month.
My top traffic is still for my 2005 Banlangen Keli, although my Hoboken category gets more views. My Teak Sushi is generating my top search keywords.
