You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February, 2008.
By We ran our second round of SMS voting for the Ice Zone TV show last night. You can click on the image below to see a larger version of answers to the question; What is the name of Alica Keys latest album?
This time round we ran the service all night from 8pm to 7am this morning and its surprising to see how human behaviour is involved in these things. We had people texting up until 1.30am. Which makes me wonder who stays up that late and who can remember the number that late after they’ve seen it on TV?
On the issue of the difference between B-mobile messages and Digicel messages, we could clearly see that Digicel messages were coming in at a faster rate then B-mobile. We are not sure whether this may have something to do with their networks or whether there are more Digicel users texting in.
So here are our general stats:
- Duration of SMS Polling: 8.00pm to 7.00 am
- Messages received: 725 messages
- Recognised answers: 520 messages
- Unrecognized answers: 205 messages
- Messages from B-Mobile: 78 messages
- Messages from Digicel: 620 messages
and Digicel has won a mobile license for the Pacific nation of Fiji - breaking the long term monopoly enjoyed by Vodafone. Four companies had submitted bids, but Digicel won with a tender of US$10.25 million.
Interim Commerce Minister Tom Ricketts noted that “This outcome has left a possible third PCTMS license, pursuance of a third entrant into the mobile phone market which will be left to the Telecommunication Authority of Fiji (TAF) Board when they choose to do so,”
The other three firms who submitted bids were Pacific Spectrum Holdings, Telecom Pacific and Unwired Fiji. The government also earned US$2 million in tender fees. Interim Commerce Minister Tom Ricketts said there was only one successful bid because the other three bidders did not meet all the requirements. Mr Ricketts said Digicel would be issued a licence once it paid its bid offer of $US10.25million ($F15.4m).
He said the entry of any third player in the cellular mobile market “will be left to the Telecommunication Authority of Fiji when they choose to do so”.
He said the TAF would be formed in the upcoming weeks.
Digicel will have to wait until October before entering the commercial market as agreed in a deal to de-regulate the market.
Vodafone Fiji ended the year with just under 380,000 subscribers according to figures from the Mobile World database - which represents a population penetration level of just 41% - leaving plenty of opportunity for the new entrant.
NB: As written on their website
There is something very special about the PNG experience that is unique and can only be shared with others who have enjoyed the wonderful life as well. It is a bond that for many people is treasured and never forgotten!
As many of you reading this will know, there has been a PNG Reunion held on the Gold Coast every other year for many years. Since 1994 Paul Bolger, Brian Costello and Bernie Murray and their committee have worked tirelessly to bring you the biennial Gold Coast gathering and they all deserve now to enjoy what they have created as our guests. Recently Paul’s committee decided to hand over to some `younger folk’ to continue on with their excellent work.
The new team consists of a group of people who were pikininis during their time in PNG. Robyn Horley (President), Kelly Horley (Treasurer), Greg Pike (Secretary), Wendy Stockden-Brock (Planning) form 
the Executive, supported by an excellent committee comprising Leanne St George and Jenni Purdy (so far)! There are openings for others who want to lend a hand with an ever-increasing list of tasks and who would enjoy the fun (see picture - It’s been tough).”
See their Website for more details: http://www.pngreunion.com
Just got on the net this morning and was wondering how I could somehow get a rough idea of how many .pg domain’s are out there on the web. So I did a little experiment on Google. I typed in ‘com.pg, gov.pg‘ and I got 11,100 listings. To make a comparison with another pacific island country, I tried ‘com.fj, gov.fj‘ and I got 3,800 listings. Now I know that this is not a very accurate way of measuring how many websites are out there because Google is also counting email addresses. But I thought it was interesting nevertheless.
Then while I was looking at the above results I stumbled on a site called MiniRank, which listed the most popular websites in a given country. Again I’m not familiar with how their ranking works, but from the site they said that only web links were counted on the web and not the amount of hits to the site. They claim that all countries miniRank ranks are checked thoroughly and if a given website isn’t in the corresponding index, chances are that either the website is fairly new, or it’s spam related. They added that the ranking is automatic and nobody can pay for a higher score. This alone separated the project from all other ‘pay for sponsored placement’ websites. Keep in mind that the list below lists website links and not hits.
So having said all that this is the Top 166 PNG websites according to them and after that is Fiji’s Top 116 websites:
1. www.kina.com.pg , 
Points: 35.1269
2. www.pomsox.com.pg , Points: 33.4644
3. www.pngtourism.org.pg , Points: 10.3661
4. www.dwu.ac.pg Points: 9.77245
5. www.diwaipacific.com.pg Points: 9.21528
6. www.postcourier.com.pg , Points: 7.88396
7. www.ipa.gov.pg , Points: 6.69316
8. www.thenational.com.pg , Points: 6.27235
9. www.airniugini.com.pg , Points: 6.09306
10. www.henaos.com.pg , Points: 5.90036
11. www.global.net.pg , Points: 5.45495
12. www.budget.com.pg Points: 5.3633
13. www.thaiconsulate.org.pg Points: 5.22062
14. www.coralseahotels.com.pg , Points: 4.76359
15. www.bspcapital.com.pg Points: 4.57926
16. www.tiare.net.pg Points: 4.30307
17. www.bsp.com.pg Points: 3.72067
18. www.bankpng.gov.pg , Points: 3.10737
19. www.pngmc.ac.pg Points: 3.03787
20. global.net.pg Points: 2.96153
21. www.iea.ac.pg , Points: 2.90839
22. www.irc.gov.pg , Points: 2.77189
23. www.steamships.com.pg Points: 2.43033
24. www.pm.gov.pg , Points: 2.40863
25. www.fisheries.gov.pg , Points: 2.31654
26. www.datec.net.pg , Points: 2.29035
27. www.datec.com.pg , Points: 2.13210
28. www.pngonline.gov.pg Points: 2.08534
29. www.aigf.org.pg Points: 1.80327
30. www.pngtradepost.com.pg , Points: 1.69308
31. www.treasury.gov.pg , Points: 1.55010
32. www.online.net.pg , Points: 1.41073
33. www.lihir.com.pg , Points: 1.34233
34. www.hevilift.com.pg Points: 1.34233
35. www.pacificmobile.com.pg Points: 1.33083
36. www.unitech.ac.pg Points: 1.32104
37. www.thainconsulate.org.pg Points: 1.30515
38. www.lexacorp.com.pg , Points: 1.11861
39. www.celcor.org.pg Points: 1.11861
40. www.telikompng.com.pg , Points: 1.11159
41. www.ecoforest.org.pg Points: 1.00000
42. www.fpcd.org.pg Points: 1.00000
43. www.reaa.org.pg Points: 1.00000
44. www.oca.gov.pg , Points: 0.90502
45. www.ncbg.org.pg , Points: 0.89489
46. www.pnghashing.org.pg , Points: 0.89489
47. www.gfa.com.pg Points: 0.89489
48. www.pioneerbible.org.pg Points: 0.89489
49. www.coffeecorp.org.pg Points: 0.82633
50. www.nari.org.pg , Points: 0.79236
51. www.consort.com.pg , Points: 0.75491
52. www.foda.org.pg Points: 0.74595
53. www.hitron.com.pg , Points: 0.71672
54. www.mineral.gov.pg , Points: 0.68130
55. www.remington.com.pg , Points: 0.67116
56. www.bishopbros.com.pg Points: 0.67116
57. www.agriculture.org.pg Points: 0.64987
58. www.upng.ac.pg Points: 0.63638
59. www.health.gov.pg , Points: 0.63116
60. www.bcpng.org.pg Points: 0.60343
61. www.edaranu.com.pg , Points: 0.60175
62. www.agriculture.gov.pg , Points: 0.58561
63. www.pngid.org.pg Points: 0.57879
64. www.adra.org.pg , Points: 0.54917
65. stjohn.org.pg Points: 0.54917
66. www.balus.gov.pg Points: 0.53611
67. www.pngivla.org.pg Points: 0.52777
68. www.westpac.com.pg Points: 0.52777
69. www.pngcci.org.pg Points: 0.50388
70. www.emtv.com.pg Points: 0.49300
71. www.iccc.gov.pg Points: 0.48499
72. www.nso.gov.pg Points: 0.47689
73. www.police.gov.pg , Points: 0.45757
74. www.rspca.org.pg Points: 0.44744
75. www.sp.com.pg Points: 0.44744
76. www.spmsc.org.pg Points: 0.44744
77. www.marsh.com.pg Points: 0.44744
78. www.fincorp.com.pg Points: 0.44744
79. www.rtapng.com.pg , Points: 0.44744
80. www.airlink.com.pg Points: 0.44744
81. www.theprofessionals.com.pg Points: 0.44744
82. www.undp.org.pg Points: 0.44744
83. www.rcf.org.pg Points: 0.44744
84. www.customs.gov.pg Points: 0.44744
85. www.heliniugini.com.pg Points: 0.44744
86. www.kwilainsurance.com.pg Points: 0.44744
87. www.lamanahotel.com.pg Points: 0.44744
88. www.pangtel.gov.pg , Points: 0.44159
89. www.trade.gov.pg Points: 0.36340
90. www.dg.com.pg Points: 0.35794
91. www.pomci.org.pg Points: 0.35020
92. www.ncdc.gov.pg Points: 0.34872
93. www.laegamefishing.org.pg Points: 0.33333
94. www.pmgfc.org.pg Points: 0.33333
95. www.finance.gov.pg Points: 0.32900
96. www.dpm.gov.pg , Points: 0.32900
97. www.nefc.gov.pg Points: 0.32900
98. www.daltron.com.pg , Points: 0.31239
99. www.datanets.com.pg Points: 0.31239
100. www.petroleum.gov.pg Points: 0.27473
101. www.trukai.com.pg , Points: 0.25000
102. www.hilift.com.pg Points: 0.25000
103. www.mvit.com.pg , Points: 0.25000
104. www.chinaembassy.org.pg Points: 0.22372
105. www.airnuigini.com.pg Points: 0.22372
106. www.pattaf.org.pg , Points: 0.22372
107. www.aquaventures-png.com.pg Points: 0.22372
108. www.ip.com.pg Points: 0.22372
109. www.citymission.com.pg Points: 0.22372
110. www.nbpol.com.pg Points: 0.22372
111. www.cimelanesia.org.pg Points: 0.22372
112. www.ncs.com.pg Points: 0.22372
113. www.zd.com.pg Points: 0.22372
114. www.ngo.org.pg Points: 0.22372
115. www.cloudybaytimber.com.pg Points: 0.22372
116. www.ecoforestry.org.pg , Points: 0.22372
117. www.nmsa.gov.pg Points: 0.22372
118. www.esishop.com.pg Points: 0.22372
119. www.kumullodge.com.pg Points: 0.22372
120. www.brianbell.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
121. www.agro.org.pg Points: 0.22372
122. www.markham.com.pg Points: 0.22372
123. www.mrdc.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
124. www.peil.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
125. www.pryde.com.pg Points: 0.22372
126. www.cbtf.org.pg Points: 0.22372
127. www.pngfootball.com.pg Points: 0.22372
128. www.cds.org.pg , Points: 0.22372
129. www.ruraldev.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
130. www.computers.com.pg Points: 0.22372
131. www.divecentre.com.pg Points: 0.22372
132. www.hausporoman.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
133. www.naufm.com.pg Points: 0.22372
134. www.rpyc.com.pg , Points: 0.22372
135. www.em.com.pg Points: 0.22372
136. www.kokodatrail.com.pg Points: 0.22372
137. www.catholicpng.org.pg Points: 0.22372
138. www.pomcci.org.pg , Points: 0.207
139. www.lcci.org.pg Points: 0.207
140. www.acnars.org.pg Points: 0.18893
141. www.scicom.ac.pg Points: 0.18893
142. www.uog.ac.pg Points: 0.18893
143. www.parliament.gov.pg , Points: 0.17904
144. www.pngjudiciary.gov.pg , Points: 0.17358
145. www.siyb.org.pg Points: 0.12500
146. www.igr.gov.pg Points: 0.12500
147. www.pngdc.gov.pg Points: 0.12500
148. www.sandaun.gov.pg Points: 0.12500
149. www.transparencypng.org.pg , Points: 0.09656
150. www.nisit.gov.pg , Points: 0.08866
151. www.postpng.com.pg , Points: 0.08866
152. www.pngndc.gov.pg , Points: 0.08866
153. pngibb.com.pg Points: 0.05101
154. www.communication.gov.pg Points: 0.05101
155. www.defence.gov.pg Points: 0.05101
156. www.lands.gov.pg Points: 0.05101
157. www.pacifica.com.pg Points: 0.05101
158. www.works.gov.pg , Points: 0.05101
159. pngcci.org.pg Points: 0.05101
160. www.rotary.org.pg Points: 0.04555
161. www.nacs.org.pg Points: 0.04555
162. www.nrsc.gov.pg Points: 0.04555
163. www.posf.com.pg , Points: 1e-06
164. www.sre.com.pg , Points: 1e-06
165. www.cheshire.org.pg , Points: 1e-06
166. www.dplga.gov.pg Points: 1e-06
Fiji’s Top 116 Websites
1. www.webmasters.com.fj Points: 4.62356
2. www.usp.ac.fj , Points: 3.69811
3. www.fiji-hotels.com.fj Points: 3.3802
4. www.yellowpages.com.fj , Points: 2.79166
5. www.ftib.org.fj Points: 1.83566
6. www.naia.com.fj Points: 1.81986
7. www.travelfiji.com.fj , Points: 1.70415
8. www.connect.com.fj , Points: 1.57807
9. www.xceed.com.fj , Points: 1.35241
10. www.vodafone.com.fj , Points: 1.35241
11. www.dawn.org.fj Points: 1.33318
12. www.nomadsskylodge.com.fj , Points: 1.28113
13. www.telecomfiji.com.fj , Points: 1.05544
14. www.frca.org.fj Points: 1.00000
15. www.peninsula.com.fj , Points: 1.00000
16. www.sofitel.com.fj Points: 1.00000
17. www.un.org.fj Points: 1.00000
18. www.transtel.com.fj , Points: 0.94562
19. www.forumsec.org.fj , Points: 0.84189
20. www.reefsafari.com.fj , Points: 0.78132
21. www.relpac.org.fj Points: 0.73207
22. www.fijitv.com.fj , Points: 0.67430
23. www.ssc.com.fj , Points: 0.60949
24. www.ccf.org.fj , Points: 0.56449
25. www.pcgov.org.fj Points: 0.56449
26. www.pcrc.org.fj , Points: 0.56449
27. www.pang.org.fj Points: 0.56449
28. www.skylite.com.fj Points: 0.52789
29. www.oceanic.com.fj Points: 0.52789
30. www.interactive.com.fj Points: 0.52789
31. www.theforce.com.fj Points: 0.52789
32. www.ecrea.org.fj , Points: 0.52789
33. www.colonial.com.fj Points: 0.51245
34. www.asiapac.org.fj , Points: 0.43924
35. www.wellesleyresort.com.fj Points: 0.43924
36. mercure.com.fj Points: 0.42222
37. ibishotels.com.fj Points: 0.42222
38. grandmercure.com.fj Points: 0.42222
39. allseasons.com.fj Points: 0.42222
40. novotel.com.fj Points: 0.42222
41. www.wwfpacific.org.fj , Points: 0.38807
42. www.whitepages.com.fj Points: 0.36604
43. www.vodafonerental.com.fj Points: 0.32943
44. www.helicopters.com.fj Points: 0.31666
45. www.datec.com.fj Points: 0.29283
46. www.sun.com.fj Points: 0.29283
47. www.sofitelfiji.com.fj Points: 0.29283
48. www.fls.org.fj Points: 0.28660
49. www.airfiji.com.fj Points: 0.25622
50. www.spse.com.fj Points: 0.25000
51. www.cmda.com.fj Points: 0.25000
52. www.coralsunfiji.com.fj Points: 0.24345
53. www.carphardware.com.fj Points: 0.20000
54. www.carpfinance.com.fj Points: 0.20000
55. www.carpmotors.com.fj Points: 0.20000
56. www.carpship.com.fj Points: 0.20000
57. www.daltron.com.fj Points: 0.20000
58. whois.fj Points: 0.20000
59. www.navitiresort.com.fj Points: 0.19493
60. www.fiji-online.com.fj Points: 0.18302
61. www.sopac.org.fj Points: 0.18302
62. www.fijimuseum.org.fj , Points: 0.18302
63. www.pita.org.fj Points: 0.18302
64. www.qualityrental.com.fj Points: 0.15833
65. www.caafi.org.fj Points: 0.14641
66. www.undp.org.fj , Points: 0.14641
67. www.avis.com.fj , Points: 0.12172
68. www.captaincook.com.fj Points: 0.12172
69. www.skydivefiji.com.fj Points: 0.12172
70. www.khansrental.com.fj Points: 0.12172
71. www.coastalrentalcars.com.fj Points: 0.12172
72. www.budget.com.fj , Points: 0.12172
73. www.asco.com.fj Points: 0.10981
74. www.wgfiji.com.fj Points: 0.10981
75. www.fmf.com.fj Points: 0.10981
76. www.tappoo.com.fj Points: 0.10981
77. www.nltb.com.fj , Points: 0.10981
78. www.fspi.org.fj , Points: 0.07320
79. www.navinifiji.com.fj Points: 0.07320
80. www.denaraugolf.com.fj Points: 0.07320
81. www.google.com.fj , Points: 0.07320
82. www.fijitimes.com.fj , Points: 0.07320
83. www.firca.org.fj Points: 0.07320
84. www.safarilodge.com.fj , Points: 0.07320
85. www.ppa.org.fj Points: 0.07320
86. www.afl.com.fj Points: 0.07320
87. www.postfiji.com.fj , Points: 0.07320
88. www.unifiji.ac.fj Points: 0.07320
89. www.licifiji.com.fj Points: 0.07320
90. www.freemasonry.org.fj Points: 0.03660
91. www.fit.ac.fj , Points: 0.03660
92. www.sas.com.fj Points: 0.03660
93. www.pacificsun.com.fj Points: 0.03660
94. www.fnpf.com.fj Points: 0.03660
95. www.fijiannoni.com.fj Points: 0.03660
96. www.marsh.com.fj Points: 0.03660
97. www.fntc.ac.fj Points: 0.03660
98. www.courts.com.fj Points: 0.03660
99. www.suninsurance.com.fj Points: 0.03660
100. www.nic.fj Points: 0.03660
101. www.ljhooker.com.fj Points: 0.03660
102. naia.com.fj Points: 0.03660
103. www.naitasiriru.com.fj Points: 0.03660
104. www.southpacific.com.fj Points: 0.03660
105. domains.fj Points: 0.03660
106. www.is.com.fj , Points: 0.03660
107. www.fijicustoms.org.fj Points: 0.03660
108. www.handicrafts.com.fj Points: 0.03660
109. www.pim.com.fj Points: 0.03660
110. www.naiacruises.com.fj Points: 0.03660
111. www.carpenters.com.fj Points: 0.03660
112. www.unwired.com.fj Points: 0.03660
113. www.bakelsfiji.com.fj , Points: 0.03660
114. www.domains.fj Points: 1e-06
115. www.aquarius.com.fj , Points: 1e-06
116. www.gokals.com.fj Points: 1e-06
The Guardian, Monday February 25 2008
A little after 11.30 yesterday morning, a Boeing 747 running on jet fuel and the oil from 150,000 coconuts parted company with the runway at Heathrow and slipped into a hazy blue sky.
Forty minutes later, the first commercial aircraft to be powered partly by biofuel touched down at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, paving the way for what some claim could be a revolution in environmentally responsible aviation.
The experiment was the brainchild of the Virgin Atlantic boss, Sir Richard Branson, who hailed the flight as a “historic occasion” and the first step towards using biofuels on commercial flights. Three of the 747’s four tanks were filled with normal jet fuel while its fourth carried a mixture that was 80% jet fuel and 20% coconut and babassu palm oil.
“Today marks a biofuel breakthrough for the whole airline industry,” Branson told a press conference held next to the aircraft in a Heathrow hangar. “Virgin Atlantic, and its partners, are proving that you can find an alternative to traditional jet fuel and fly a plane on new technology, such as sustainable biofuel.”
Branson has pledged to invest profits from his transport empire in biofuel production, but serious doubts have already been raised. Critics argue that biofuels damage developing countries by driving up food prices and harm the environment by encouraging deforestation.
The Heathrow trial, in partnership with Boeing, engine maker General Electric, and Imperium Renewables, attempted to assuage those concerns by using biofuel made from coconut oil harvested from existing plantations in the Philippines and oil from babassu palms, which grow wild in Brazil.
However, Branson admitted that the biofuel mix that partially powered yesterday’s flight would not be used commercially.
Wild ideas
Land given to coconut plantations would have to be vastly expanded to satisfy the demands of aviation, resulting in deforestation, while the babassu palms used in yesterday’s experiment are not available in sufficient numbers.
The airline industry, he added, would probably have to turn to algae in its search for viable biofuels. Algae are grown in ponds rather than on land, so they do not require deforestation or take space that could be used for food crops.
Branson said: “This pioneering flight will enable those of us who are serious about reducing our carbon emissions to go on developing the fuels of the future, fuels which will power our aircraft in the years ahead through sustainable next-generation oils, such as algae.”
Environmental groups have warned that processing algae may produce more carbon dioxide than is saved by using it as an alternative fuel. There are also concerns that algae will compete for fresh-water sources as the ponds evaporate and have to be topped up.
Tim Jones, a policy officer at the World Development Movement, said the minimal amount of biofuel used in the trial underlined the difficulty of reducing emissions within the aviation industry. “It only reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 20% and there is no technology available that allows us to fly without making emissions.”
Kenneth Richter, Friends of the Earth aviation campaigner, said: “Biofuels are a major distraction in the fight against climate change. There is mounting evidence that the carbon savings from biofuels are negligible. If Virgin was really serious about reducing the aviation industry’s impact on the environment it would support calls for aircraft emissions to be included in the climate change bill.”
Aircraft account for 5.5% of UK carbon dioxide emissions and Virgin Atlantic is not the first aviation group to experiment with alternative fuels. Earlier this month, the jet manufacturer Airbus flew an A380 superjumbo with a mix of gas-to-liquid fuel.
A much-trumpeted biofuels trial at Virgin Trains was abandoned last year after the group lost its CrossCountry franchise. A Virgin Trains spokesman said the company was “considering” whether to launch a new trial on the West Coast route.
Concerns about biofuels have spread to mainstream transport companies including National Express, which abandoned a biofuel trial for its buses amid fears that it was causing more harm than good to the environment.
The government acknowledged those concerns last week when it ordered a review of the environmental and economic impact of biofuels.
The transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, said the government might not support an EU proposal to increase the proportion of biofuel in petrol and diesel to 10% by 2020 if the review raises serious doubts.
Before I begin I want to thank my brother Flavius for all the help he gave in assisting us setup the SMS polling for Ice Zone on EMTV last night. He actually works with me as our IT specialist, setting up and managing our network and hardware issues etc.
SP Brewery under the Ice Beer label decided by last week that they wanted to move quickly and have this SMS voting setup ASAP. So we began software setup by Friday last week, we secured a B-mobile and Digicel number by Tuesday morning, just in time for the shooting of the show at 10am that day. Then the worst part was trying to get everything working by Thursday. Flavius and I literally stayed glued to our PC’s from Wednesday afternoon at 5pm till Thursday night 7.30pm the next day sorting out glitches with the SMS numbers.
But thankfully everything was setup and ready to go by 8pm Thursday night for the Ice Zone on EMTV. Although we were ready by 8pm the VJ on the show did not introduce the SMS question and optional answers until about 8.15pm. The Question and answers were:
Question for the Night:
What are the Ice Colours?
Alternative Answers:
a) Green & Gold
b) Red, White & Green
c) Black, Gold, White & Grey
d) Pink, Purple & Gold
The response to the announcement on TV was quite impressive. Within 30 secs of the VJ introducing the questions, the text messages began pouring in. Quite allot of people were also calling the numbers which is not what is supposed to happen, but we’ll have to work out whether that is the fault of the VJ not explaining that properly or whether because we are using normal mobile numbers that people get confused. The SMS numbers were closed after 12am this morning.
Because we are contracted to SP Brewery to provide this service we cannot give too many details on the SMS’s coming in but here are some general statistics that we discovered from the show last night.
- Duration of SMS Polling: 8.00pm to 12.04am
- Total number of messages received: 827 messages
- Total number of correct answers: 453 messages
- Total number of unrecognized answers: 374 messages
- Total number of messages from B-Mobile: 181 messages
- Total number of messages from Digicel: 577 messages
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More info on our SMS service at: http://www.masalai.net/sms_polling.htm
ANA TV and Technology Survey Finds Advertisers Looking for Better Metrics, Better Formats
Published: February 20, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Whether traditional TV advertising has truly lost its power, marketers and advertisers are already eager to find alternatives. The Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research’s fourth biennial TV and Technology survey shows a dramatic loss of confidence in the medium as the industry gears up to explore new ad formats and forms of video commercials.
Indeed, two thirds of the C-level-executive respondents said they are watching the medium closely, up from just half two years ago, and 87% of respondents said they were going to be spending more on web ads in the coming year. The study was conducted in January and is based on a survey of 78 leading advertisers across all major industries and categories.
Sixty-two percent of marketers believe traditional TV ads have become less effective during the last two years. Given that belief, it’s no surprise that close to half of them already have experimented with other ad formats that work with digital video recorders or video-on-demand programs. And more than 50% of marketers reported that when half of all TV households use DVRs, they will cut spending on TV advertising by 12%.
Branded entertainment
Eighty-seven percent of advertisers believe branded entertainment is the key to TV advertising in the coming year, and 65% of them are eager to try ads in online TV shows. And emerging technologies continue to lure marketers looking to experiment. Forty-three percent would like to try interactive TV ads; 55% are interested in ads embedded in VOD; and 32% would like to try ads attached to the set-top-box menu.
Despite the introduction and adoption this past season of C3 ratings — which measure the average number of viewers that watch the ads live and within three days of playback on a DVR — most marketers still would like the industry to go even further: 72% of marketers said they were very interested in having individual commercial ratings rather than average commercial ratings.
Dealing with change
With the proliferation of new media, media agencies have stepped up their game to help clients deal with the changes. Two years ago, just under half the agencies reported they were ill-equipped to address changes in TV advertising, whereas only 28% did so this year. But it is the creative agencies that are falling behind, according to marketers: 47% of them said their agency was ill-equipped to deal with the changes, a mere 8% improvement from two years ago.
“As marketers embrace the richness of new advertising avenues outside of the traditional TV format, the TV industry is working to address marketer’s issues related to ratings and the changing TV landscape,” Bob Liodice, ANA president-CEO, said in a statement. “Marketers, in collaboration with the TV industry, will continue to find the most effective and innovative ways to reach their customers through the TV medium, utilizing the emerging technologies available to them.”
The ANA will reveal the full survey findings at its TV and Everything Video Forum at the New York Marriott Marquis, Times Square, on Feb. 28. Subsequently, ANA members will get access to the complete study on the ANA’s website in March.
Masalai will be a sponsor for this event. We’re providing our Digital Posters screens as sponsorship in kind for the breakfast.
The is a brilliant idea for tourism organisations to promote themselves internationally and locally and for free too. Well done to Stephen Damien and his team for this. One thing though, what’s with the tolai music in the background? Nogat Sepik Rock ah?
Portal Could Explore Alliances With Google, AOL
By Matthew CreamerPublished: February 11, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Following Yahoo’s decision to reject Microsoft’s $44.6 billion takeover attempt, speculation has focused on what the future holds for the slumping online-media giant.
A few scenarios have popped up. One has Microsoft continuing to press Yahoo by taking the proposal directly to its shareholders or by sweetening the offer to make it palatable to the Yahoo board, which today said the bid undervalues the company. Another has Yahoo playing defense either by partnering with Google on search advertising, sure to draw scrutiny from regulators, or by rekindling talks with Time Warner about a merger with its AOL unit.
Microsoft is chasing Yahoo as part of its effort to close the gap on Google, the leader in search. The combination would combine the No. 2 and 3 players, but “Micro-hoo,” as it’s been unofficially dubbed, would still trail Google.
Bid ’substantially undervalues Yahoo’
A statement from Yahoo’s board of directors today said the bid “substantially undervalues Yahoo including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments.”
In its statement, the Yahoo board said it is “continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment, and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders.”
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
See also: Pt1 and Pt2 of this series
Workshop Programme: ict-workshop-programme.doc
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Just after Kevin O’Sullivan of Digicel and before lunch, 2 ISP’s gave their views on ICT in PNG. Greencom was also to do a talk but they did not turn up.
First up was Tony Westaway, General Manager for Datec. Basically for Tony his question was whether the NetCo. and Serv.Co model was really appropriate for PNG? He said roughly 50,000 people have regular access to the internet, which is appalling when you consider the population of the country. Sundar Ramamurthy, Managing Director of Data Nets took it a step further with his lively examples of a recent trip to India and Singapore with his family. He noted that in Singapore they had 6 international gateways for telephony services. Currently all ISP’s in PNG have to go through one gateway, Telikom’s Tiare gateway.
This brings me back to Kevin O’Sullivan’s views in Pt2 of this series about service providers having their own gateway to ensure competitive pricing and quality of service. Sundar and Tony both shared the view that in order for internet pricing to come down there had to be competition not just among the service providers but also at the gateway level. This was the only way prices could be dropped. Sundar gave an example of how this was effecting them by pointing out that although Telikom was running it’s Teli-Net ADSL service it was charging Teli-Net customers the same rate as it was charging ISP’s for internet, so there would be no way at all that ISP’s could offer lower prices (read a related post here). So it seems that for both internet and telephony services competition at the international gateway level is crucial.
Sundar completed his talk by saying that we all had to ask ourselves whether internet access was important to us as a society? And that the only way to increase internet accessibility was by getting more undersea fibre optic cables coming into the country.
A question was asked from the crowd if Digicel could bring competition to the internet as well. Digicel said they had no comment at this stage and that they could only work within the boundaries of their mobile phone license.
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After lunch David Leeming from the Solomon Islands and Dr. Peter Anderson spoke on the internet in education.
I was particularly interested in David Leeming because he was running trials of the XO laptop which comes from the One Laptop Per Child program. (I spoke about this in a past post).
Here is an excerpt from the projects’ wikipedia page:
“Solomon Islands, …, is the first site in the Pacific region to have a substantial program of OLPC laptops in remote schools. The entire Pacific region is represented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Dr Jimmie Rodgers Secretary-General. The 20 islands that make up the Solomons are served by 9 VSAT satellite dishes on sites denoted as Distance Learning Centres. These were established using EU funding, and are administered by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development. The project is named the Distance Learning Centres Project (DLCP).
Pilot sites are located at Bekabeka, Patukae and Batuna primary schools on Gatokae island in the Western Province of the Solomons, where they currently share 22 B2 and 10 B4 laptops. The machines at Bekabeka already have access to satellite signals, while those at Batuna and Patukae will be connected by the 3rd week of December 2007.”
I was a bit disappointed that David was not given more time to talk about the laptops and how they worked etc. I’ve been in touch with him by email and he’s agreed to do a more in depth online interview of the project. So I’ll advise when I get that done. You can read more about the project here, http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Solomon_Islands
David did give his comments on ICT and he thought that three key challanges needed to be met:
- Mindsets had to be changed,
- Enabling environments had to be created, and
- Opportunities had to be capaitalised on
He also, like the ISP’s, felt that the Internet, VSAT technology and international Gateways should not be monopolised.
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Dr. Peter Anderson, an IT guru based at Divine Word University in Madang has been spear heading the ‘Academic Research Network’ an information sharing network for the major universities in PNG. Dr. Anderson said that they had been given a licence from PANGTEL to start so it will be great to see this get off the ground. The concept of the universities running their own internet service and linked network to each other has been around as far back as 2001 when Noel Mobiha was involved with it at Unitech. The birth, history and development of the internet is deeply rooted in universities such as MIT, Stanford etc. so it is only right that our universities are given the freedom to research, understand and share the how and why’s of not just ICT development but knowledge in general.
I think I will have to get more information on this network.
Software Giant Puts Google Squarely in Its Sights as It Touts Commitment to Search and Advertising
By Abbey Klaassen Published: February 01, 2008NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — In a move that could dramatically alter the shape of the internet for both consumers and advertisers, Microsoft has made a $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. The software giant announced early this morning its intentions to bid $31 a share for struggling Yahoo.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (right) called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang last night to discuss the proposal.
“Today the market is increasingly dominated by one player,” said Kevin Johnson, president-platforms and services at the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. “By combining assets, we can offer a better choice [for consumers, advertisers and publishers].”
That one player, of course, is Google, which owns about two-thirds of the market share for internet search and has outmaneuvered Microsoft and Yahoo for the past couple years.
Touting merger’s benefits
On a conference call early this morning, Mr. Johnson touted the research-and-development power of combining Microsoft and Yahoo; the economies of scale that exist within search and their respective ad-serving technologies; the importance of infrastructure, such as servers; and the operating efficiencies of a merger.
“We’re very excited about today’s announcement,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on the same call. He called the move for Yahoo the “next major milestone in Microsoft’s company-wide transformation to embrace online services overall and invest in search and advertising,” and said he also wanted Yahoo management and employees to be excited about the deal.
He said he called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang last night to discuss the proposal, something Microsoft has been thinking about for the last 18 months.
“A year ago the Yahoo management team told us it wasn’t the right time … we believed then in the benefits of combining those two companies and we believe now more than ever,” he said.
Integrating 12,000 employees
Exactly how Microsoft would integrate Yahoo’s 12,000 or so employees is unclear but Microsoft said it has a plan to include leaders of both companies in an integration roadmap. They briefly addressed the power of the brands involved and hinted that Windows and Office Live and Yahoo would remain. He didn’t clarify what would become of MSN.
“There will be a Windows Live, there will be an Office Live. And Yahoo — those are all powerful opportunities, powerful brands,” Mr. Ballmer said. “Exactly how we relate MSN and those other things, we have some thoughts but a team from both companies would be in the best position to assess that.”
Yahoo released a statement this morning acknowledging it received the bid and that its board of directors “will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo’s strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.”
Earlier this week, Yahoo reported its fourth-quarter earnings and gave investors a disappointing forecast for 2008. Recently Yahoo shares dropped below $20 for the first time in several years; however, in early-morning trading the Microsoft bid pushed shares up about 50%.
“Sure we could have hired engineers, we’re very good that,” Mr. Ballmer said. “But the market continues to grow and the leader continues to consolidate. There’s nothing like putting together … two larger sophisticated R&D organizations.” Areas of research-and-development include search relevance, search verticals and the social-media aspect of search.
Feedback from publishers
Microsoft said already this morning it had gotten unsolicited feedback from publishers and advertisers that the move is the right step and will create a compelling marketplace.
Imran Kahn, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, released a note this morning predicting Yahoo’s board would approve the Microsoft deal.
“We think as search market becomes competitive, Yahoo is better off inside a larger company with strong balance sheet and technology expertise for further fuel its growth,” he wrote.
Microsoft said the deal is a mix of 50% cash and 50% equity and the company hopes to close it in the second half of calendar year 2008. Executives predicted it would be break even or better for Microsoft in the second full fiscal year after closing.
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