Advertising has gotten a lot more complicated since the early days of the internet. There are hundreds of ad networks out there. With targeting being the name of the game, efficiently allocating your ad space to visitors is nearly impossible. In response, automated ad optimization engines have started up to help manage these advertising complexities. Using one seems like a no-brainer for publishers concerned about making the most of their advertising. Advertising rates change too quickly over time and the complexity of serving the right ads to your different demographics is simply too hard to handle by hand, particularly on websites with large footprints. There are several engines out there already, including YieldBuild and The Rubicon Project. Now TechCrunch 40 finalist Pubmatic is hosting a contest to draw more publishers to their platform. Every month, the two publishers who see the greatest gains using Pubmatic will receive thousands in free advertising on top “web 2.0 web sites” (i.e. blogs). The amount is still unknown because they are still finalizing the sites they are advertising on. You can sign up for the program here. PubMatic’s ad optimization engine is similar to YieldBuild and the Rubicon project. Unlike these earlier two, Pubmatic is actually live with 1,300 sites and open to anyone else. The engine serves as a meta ad server that serves the highest revenue ad network for each visitor given the time, geographic, demographic, and layout aspects of your site. It currently supports ad networks like Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher Network and Value Click. They also provide them with a central dashboard to track all their ad networks and ad configurations. Below you’ll find more information from their TechCrunch 40 video. Pubmatic has already picked the November winners WinCustomize and BikerOrNot, which they claim have seen over 100% increases in their ad revenue since using PubMatic. YeildBuild and The Rubicon Project have boasted similar increases for their publishers. To a degree, it all just depends on how poorly monetized your site was to start. However, Pubmatic is looking for sensible successes from fairly well trafficked sites and will double check your previous monetization metrics to ensure the increase in revenue is real. CrunchBase Information PubMatic Rubicon Project YieldBuild Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Got the chance to play with the Bell&Ross BR02 diver’s watch. If you’re not into watches, you can probably skip this but generally it’s a nice diver with great styling. It’s based on B&R’s Instrument Series and you can really see the pedigree. Unfortunately, this was only a show model so it didn’t run but if you want one that tells time you’ll probably have to pay in the $3000 range. Fancy! Click through for a few more pictures. → Read More
I bring you the most amazing Optimus Prime costume I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many. Hit the jump to see it in all its Megatron’s-ass-kicking glory. → Read More
http://embed.break.com/MzkwNTY1Blame Halo 3 – Watch more free videos Now that I’ve been reunited with my Xbox 360 and Halo 3, I’ll probably be singing the same tune. → Read More
Wal-mart just plotzed out the Everex Green gPC, a low-end machine with low-end specs running Ubuntu Linux and a version of Enlightenment that its creators called GOS. Some may say that this is the “Google PC” but it’s actually running a version of Linux specially tweaked to let you “launch” Google apps — still in the browser — from the task bar. The PC runs a 1.5GHz VIA C7 CPU and is already up on Wal-Mart’s homepage so W00T W00T. Eighty gigabytes of hard drive space and 512 MB memory really seal the deal. Seriously. It’s only $199 so pick it up, try Ubuntu for an hour, and then install an copy of XP. Your sanity will thank us. [UPDATE - I've seen the error of my ways. A $199 Linux PC is a pretty good deal, no matter how you slice it.] Product Page → Read More
If you’re like Marie Eve Bergeron-Tourangeau from Canada, you’ve decided to become a Facebook profile page for Halloween. Which is better, I guess, than trying to dress up like a Google OpenSocial, since the only image really associated with that so far is this horny elmer’s glue thing. → Read More
Hey, now THAT’S a good idea. This $99 2GB SD memory card has built in wireless. You pop it in your camera, take some photos, and it automatically uploads (via your Wi-Fi connection) those photos to one of 17 online photo websites including Shutterfly, Snapfish, Photobucket, Facebook, Picasa, and, of course, Flickr. Best of all, it works in any digital camera that supports SD cards. I don’t know how they crammed all that into a tiny card but, hey, I’m just a guy with a keyboard. It’s available now at a variety of stores. Hot damn, I’m getting one. Eye-Fi [Company Website] via Wireless-Watch.com → Read More
One of the most disruptive startups in the financial industry is Prosper, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace. Since its launch in February, 2006, Prosper has attracted more than 450,000 members who have loaned $96.4 million to each other. There is so much liquidity on Prosper now that the startup wants to create a secondary market for loans on the site. Right now, if you loan money to someone on Prosper, you have to wait for the term of the loan to expire to get all of your money and interest back (unless the debt is paid back early). A secondary market would allow individual lenders on Prosper to sell loans to each other right away, and perhaps even package them together. Such a secondary market could make Prosper a more appealing place for larger financial institutions to invest in. Hints of what Prosper is up to can be found in an S-1 registration the company filed yesterday with the SEC (see press release). The part of the S-1 (which is not yet effective) that caught my eye was this: The Lender Participant Rights are associated with the $500,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of Notes to which this prospectus relates. This amount represents the aggregate principal amount of Notes that Prosper expects will be originated on the Platform during the one-year period beginning on the date of this prospectus together with the principal amount of Notes that have been originated on the Platform prior to the date of this prospectus. In plain English, that means that Prosper expects that the cumulative amount of loans on the site a year from now will be worth up to $500 million. That would still be peanuts for most banks, but would represent a fivefold increase from the amount of loans originated on the site so far. Prosper has raised $40 million from Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, the Omidyar Network, and Fidelity Ventures. CrunchBase Information Prosper Zopa Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
It’s no secret that OiNK was full of different people, ranging from teenagers in high school to accountants from Sweden. Now Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor himself is publicly admitting he used OiNK for pirating music. “I steal music too, I’m not gonna say I don’t” says Reznor. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Reznor talks about how OiNK was the “world’s greatest record store” thanks to its content and quality. What really bugs him is iTunes and Apple’s way of selling music. “iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don’t feel cool when I go there. I’m tired of seeing John Mayer’s face pop up. I feel like I’m being hustled when I visit there, and I don’t think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc.” I’m sure many of us feel the same way – especially regarding John Mayer’s face popping up every second. Glad to see that a huge player in the music industry like Trent is on our side. Trent Reznor and Saul Williams Discuss Their New Collaboration, Mourn OiNK [NY Mag via TorrentFreak] → Read More
Now this is what I call a Halloween costume. Leave your unoriginal iPhone costumes at home people, ’cause Awesome Party Guy is on a roll this year as a YouTube video. He even has a comments section, where people can write dirty jokes and draw dicks after slamming back a couple Jello shots. Dress up as a YouTube clip and let people comment on you directly [MAKE] → Read More
Um. I don’t get it. Maybe I’m not as fashion forward as the rest of the world but these don’t look like jewelry to me. LG has launched its “jewelry concept design” line of Shining Stone UP3 S2 digital audio players, which feature “high quality material and the metal body of the five colors including black diamond, crystal silver, ruby red, pink topaz, and sapphire blue.” Still kinda looks like an MP3 player that you wear around your neck. They’ll come in 1-, 2-, and 4-gigabyte capacities and support MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, FM radio, voice recording, and feature a 65,000-color OLED display. Oh, and they’re only available in Korea. Sorry. LG to launch ‘Shining Stone UP3 S2′ with a jewelry concept design [AVING] → Read More
Sold your soul to Toshiba and cast Sony into the depths of your own gadget hell? That’s OK, because Toshiba is rewarding its loyal followers with the Vardia RD-A301, a new HD DVD player that’s filled with more features than a 9-year-old’s Halloween candy bag. Aside from having tons of inputs and outputs, including HDMI, the RD-A301 has a built-in 300GB hard drive for recording all your favorite shows in HD. Oh, but that’s not all folks. This player is more equipped than Ron Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman. After you’re done ripping the first season of Hayden Panettiere: Wet, Hot and Uncensored, you can burn it to an HD DVD or regular DVD for your cousin who refuses to shell out the $29.99 for a legit copy. Unfortunately, with the player costing around $865, blank HD DVDs requiring a small mortgage for a 30-pack and no US availability, you’re stuck in the cold until Toshiba releases it here to warm you up. RD-A301, the New HD-DVD and HDD Recorder from Toshiba [Akihabara News] → Read More
ZDNet has an article about how, because of the iPhone, “rivals have to generate some kind of cool factor.” And the uncoolest of them all? Verizon. The article’s author, Larry Dignan, gives three examples of Verizon’s recent shift in strategy. → Read More
We are pleased to release our second batch of 250 tickets for the November 16 Boston MeetUp co-hosted with IDG Ventures Boston. There also are a few spots left for start-ups to demo their products on site and what our CEO Heather Harde likes to call “creative sponsorship opportunities”. So far, we have sponsors picking up the tab for the music, specialty cocktails, themed entertainment rooms and a few other surprises. (Next thing you know, Heather is going to sell signage space on Mike’s forehead). If you are interested in supporting the event, though, please contact Jeanne Logozzo. For more details, a list of participating sponsors, and to register to attend, please see our dedicated Boston MeetUp 11 page. UPDATE: Tickets are sold old again. We will release the last round of tickets the week prior to the event. → Read More
Microsoft’s Zune Home AV Pack is expected to retail for $99.99 Just in time for the November 13th launch of Microsoft’s next batch of digital music players will be a virtual cornucopia of accessories like docks, speakers, armbands, cases, FM transmitters, docks, and more docks — more than 60 new products in all. → Read More
Not all of us can spend $200 or more on speakers for our computers. For the rest of us, there’s Mirae’s MP-170 speakers. Although these aren’t the best speakers in the world, they’ll do just fine for a PC that’s in a living room. That’s because the MP-170s have a built-in display that allows the user to display pictures during audio playback. Depending on your taste of gadgets, these will come across as a creative way to spice up your desk or another crappy set of speakers you can purchase. Either way, for $33 you certainly cannot complain much about the price. Look for them anywhere but the US. MP-170 film speakers are super thin [Ubergizmo] → Read More
Hahahaha. WD’s 320 GB 2.5-inch drives offer the most available capacity for space-hungry operating systems like Windows Vista. I found that funny for some reason. The 5400RPM drive is available now with all the good stuff that WD brings to its HDDs. A 320GB, 3 GB/s, and 8MB cache is pretty spectacular for only $200. Sucks it’s already sold out. Product Page → Read More
Is Facebook finally going to take on MySpace as a place for bands and music fans to hang out? We’ve heard various Facebook Music rumors before. The latest one comes from CO-ED Magazine.com (so you know it’s got to be true!). According to CO-ED’s executive editor Stephen Gebhardt, who says he heard it from a group of marketing managers at a major music label, Facebook has been holding secret meetings with all the music labels and will announce Facebook Music next week at New York’s ad:tech conference (where it is also expected to announce its social ad network). Here are the details Gebhardt was able to gather: Facebook Music will essentially be a way for musicians (or their labels) to create their own fan pages just like on MySpace, each with a separate sub-domain within Facebook. Facebook members will be able to join any artist’s network as a “fan.” This will be similar to joining a group, but centered around music. Members will be able to listen to streamed songs, watch videos, add music to their own pages, find out about upcoming tours, and meet other fans. Facebook is also supposedly working on sales widgets for these pages (to be introduced at a later date) so that artists can sell downloads directly through Facebook. (Watch out iTunes). MySpace, Apple, Google . . . who will Facebook pick a fight with next? CrunchBase Information Facebook Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
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