LinkedIn, the business oriented social networking site, has announced the launch of a series of applications aimed to enhance the features of the site. The current uncertainty within the economy and the job losses associated with the credit crunch is likely to increase the importance of professional networking as users seek information relating to their careers as well as leads for new jobs. (more…)

You can’t hide from it. Everywhere we turn economies are crumbling under financial pressure and here in the UK there’s talk of a recession looming. Consequently it’s no surprise to see companies starting to batten down the hatches, eager to reign in their marketing budgets. Of course, you shouldn’t be throwing money around in these times, but essentially, reducing spend is merely a short-term solution. Those with enough foresight know that to ride out the storm the marketing budget is the most valuable resource to have and must be saved from the wielding axe. (more…)

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) have this month released the latest facts and figures relating to the Online Audience. As expected, the figures show that internet use is still on the increase, as 32 million people now have access to the World Wide Web within the UK. The online audience has shifted away from being dominated by a particular segment, and is now equally represented by the whole population. This is encouraging for every brand out there as their customers are now likely to have access online, whoever they may be.

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Google have added a piece of useful functionality to their Webmaster Tools console that shows you links pointing to your site that cause 404 page not found errors.

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Myspace have followed in the path of Facebook by launching their own internal ad platform. Due to launch today, the service dubbed MyAds allows any user to easily set up and track an ad. (more…)

Yahoo! has announced the deployment of Yahoo! Web Analytics following the acquisition of IndexTools in April. The tool is already available to advertisers and third-party application developers, with Yahoo! Small Business customers set to be able to use the tools by Christmas. The roll out will continue into next year. (more…)

Google has been busy this week, first off introducing click-to-buy buttons on YouTube, then AdSense for Flash games and now text ads on Google Maps. A good idea in principle, but you have to question the motivation behind this when the ad takes you through to the advertiser’s website (as with usual search ads) rather than to the specific placement on the map (as expected). The ads are local business ads, but triggered by search terms.

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Online advertising has sustained the recent growth trends for the first half of 2008 despite the turmoil entrenched within many economies throughout the world, accounting for £1,682.5 million in expenditure. The Internet Advertising Bureau reported a 21% year on year increase, showing great strength and confidence in the online medium while TV, Outdoor, Press and Radio all saw falls in expenditure. (more…)