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With the economy in shambles and everyone trying to inject a few extra dollars, many companies seem to be turning to adding additional advertising revenue to inject a lifeline. Some companies can individualize the message to make the advertising seem more integrated into their services. This could make the ads appear more like a value added. For example take Facebook and the comment made today in the NYTimes (Sorry Login needed to view fully)

Facebook’s ability to aim at particular demographic groups is impressive, Mr. McConnell told the club. As an experiment, he and a colleague set up an ad that would target all Facebook members who were 22- to 27-year old women, who worked for P.& G., were left-leaning and living in Cincinnati, and who liked sex and Cocoa Puffs. Facebook provided one person who perfectly fit the profile.

This level of sophistication along with adding some non-intrusive choices for small integrated ads should be accepted among the Facebook population. If deployed correctly the shock should be minimal and the acceptance of  additional ads in this add-advertising environment should not affect the demand for their services.

This is not true for all companies. Other companies have been injecting ads to the detriment of their services. For example take Tivo and their continued path to irrelevance.

The main purpose for the Tivo DVR device is to avoid advertisement and fast forward through annoying ads. Tivo deciding to create additional advertising on machines during their paused and fast forwarding moments is not what customers are needing. This decision is especially annoying to older Tivo machines since the added advertising is certainly taking up additional hard drive space without any added benefit. The nature of the machine and the reduction of the machines utility in the "updates" certainly makes even the most loyal Tivo users wondering about the future. Subscribers also wonder what they are paying $13 to receive if they still need to view advertising.

Compounding the troubles for Tivo is the reduction in price for computer parts, equipment and hard drives. As the annoyances of Tivo increase the cost benefit of building a Mythbox seems to become a more and more viable option. Tivo’s is currently making some poor business moves. It is inconceivable that collecting viewing habits cannot churn more of a profit. Someone is mismanaging the profits for viewer data or they have not figured out a decent strategy. If changes are not made, it is highly likely that Tivo will die along with its misguided advertising plans.

To some businesses the advertising expansion will help the revenue stream and to others this move could be the kiss of death. Businesses need to consider their end users and what their purpose and desire is for their service. If the business cannot perform their core duties and expectations to their user the addition of advertising could be worst move to make in these troubled times. 

Lisa reports from the street and earns a bit of money….

Tags: FoxReporter, Tipped, Dollar, Bra

So where did jump the shark originate? It was a hideously ludicrous episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie water-skied over a shark. Many fault this over the top moment as the downfall moment of the show. Likewise the new Indiana Jones movie sets an equivocally insane moment in the new movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Web sites like the Urban Dictionary have noticed that “nuked the fridge” has taken off.

It might end up being that Shia’s Tarzan moments are a bit more horrible then the radioactive fridge considering he can’t seem to even handle a car these days let alone a bike or a vine.

New rules for filmmakers these days:

1. Superheros can survive nuclear explosions not seemingly “normal” human action heroes. Nolan would not do that to Batman(somewhat normal hero in terms of power)- Why even think about it with Indy? Instant death of the shark term.
2. Lucas cannot write anymore- so do not humor even his best old material. Nothing can save him from the wreckage of the new Star Wars and Indy scripts. If he didn’t have the money, we would appropriately never hear from him again. He is his own worst enemy at this point. Why can’t Spielberg talk him out of these things?
3. Shia is not funny, is not an action star, and is not the answer to carry any series. Even teen comedies on television can probably make a better choice. Drop this annoyance quickly because this is the best way to ruin a movie and immediately make it unbelievable.

Sam the cooking guy tells Kathie Lee to shut her pie hole. He misunderstands the station’s priorities. Vapid banter and ditzy women outweigh cooking skills. Bye bye Sam. At least his last moments can be immortalized on YouTube.

The women “Trump” Sam on the spot. Sam your fired…no more cooks on Today..

What a dirty bird that big yellow guy is…